Untitled for now
by kittiesrock90210
Summary: Percy wakes up unable to remember a thing, and is escorted to camp by a demigod he meets.  ON the other side, he Greeks are preparing for the voyage.  Changes in time might be confusing, but I'll try to keep it simple.  Read and Review.
1. Chapter 1

**New story bitches!**

**Okay, so I finished reading The Lost Hero, and I am so psyched for the second book... I just need something to do for the next year. But anyway, I heart Leo. And my favourite part of the book? WHEN THEY GO TO QUEBEC AND GOTHE THE CHATEAU FRONTINAC. I love love love love love love love love love QUEBEC and talking in French and eating yummy poutine and the best brochette EVER. When I saw the cover of the book (if you look, the Chateau Frontenac is in the back ground). **

**I'm really supposed to be doing my psychology homework but meh. Hope you likey. It kind of sucks though, just FYI.**

**Highlight of the day: I ran into this kid who has been harassing me at school and we got in a fight. He was crying even before I punched him. I guess I'm pretty good at yelling at people. Score!**

I

Percy

_Winter 2010_

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Repeat. My breath left a faint cloud of steam with every exhale, and I made a small came out of it by pretending I was a dragon.

That's about as much as my mind could process right now. I was running, or more like stumbling, through the thick foliage without a clue of my location. I tripped on a snow dusted branch, but was able to steady myself before I fell. Because if I actually did fall, there was a high chance that I would never get back up.

I cursed underneath my breath and trudged onward through the sludgy mud/snow combo, my head pounding. I probed my head with tentative fingers to check for a head wound I didn't remember getting. I really don't remember anything much. I forced myself to think though the headache and just kept going. I was exhausted, and confused, and I think it's safe to say I have never been hungrier in my entire life.

Well, I'm just guessing since I can't remember any of my life prior to yesterday. I just woke up in a subway car, as if I had dozed off and experienced a major amnesia attack. Which kind of leads to know. Well not really. There was a taxi that told me to get in and dropped me off in the middle of nowhere, but I'm kind of trying to over look that part.

"Today sucks," I grumbled, and as if to make things worse, it started to pour rain. Great. I was so ready to curl up into the fetal position and sleep for a hundred years, but a voice in the back of my mind kept urging me to go.

I'm not sure whether or not I should be concerned about hearing voices in my head. And if I really am hearing voices in my head, then I'm probably going totally crazy. And where am I anyway.

The pounding in my head was starting to increase to I reduced to smaller thoughts. Inhale, exhale. Repeat. You are not going to die.

I pulled my thin black windbreaker tighter against my body. The rain was chilling me to the bone, not to mention the chilly winter wind. I ducked my head down and continued.

_You just need to keep walking._ Okay, I'll just keep doing that. At least I tried to but as another hour or so passed I was just dragging my feet along. I'd been going for almost 38 hours; at least, that's what I thought. I wasn't really sure how to tell time using the stars. A lightning bolt illuminated the sky and the rain seems to become even colder.

Things just kept getting worse. I had tried to keep a positive mindset, but that had slowly slipped down the drain. _Hmmm, that tree looks comfy. I think it would make a nice place to die._

That's when I saw it. I had to take a double take and then I whacked myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. No, it was real.

It was a barn, painted what I assumed used to be red, but most of the paint had been peeled off leaving it an almost green colour. The rusty weather vane was bent to the left, but these details hardly registered in my mind. And before I knew it, I was shuffling as fast as I could over towards it. It came closer in sight, and I felt more and more need to reach, to get inside. I was about ten yards away when I noticed something that totally ruined my plan.

There was a massive chain and padlock on the front, locking the doors up. I desperately walked towards it and pulled on the chain with no avail.

I collapsed on the soft mud floor of the earth. I guess this is an okay place to die. I mean, at least my body might be found... eventually. My eyes fluttered shut and I hardly even felt the rain anymore. It was almost comfortable. Then I heard the slight creaking, but I waved it off.

"Hello?"

I heard that for sure though. My eyes slid open and I tried to managed a slight grumbling noise.

The next thing I saw were fuzzy hello kitty socks, except they were muddy and wet. My eyes followed up, taking in the gray sweatpants and hooded figure holding a...wireless Xbox controller.

"Okay guys, totally not the pizza guy," the hooded figure said and a group of four guys all rounded the corner of the barn and looked at me.

"Damn it. I'm so hungry," One of them scowled.

Hooded figure brushed back their hood to reveal a girl. Approximately 5' 7''. Dark hair and eyes. She reached down and poked my face before recoiling as if she had been shocked. Her eyes widened, horrified, as she stared at me. "Um guys, can you head home?"

"What?" One of them exploded before glaring at me. "Is this your boyfriend or something? Because if you are kicking us out in the middle of a rainstorm just so you can have-"

"He's a family friend. Like a cousin. No southern jokes." She made a face at her buddies. "Guys, you actually need to go, I'm serious."

They glared until one gave in. "Fine, whatever. It's probably just because I was winning anyway." The guys rounded the corner and I heard what I thought to be the sound of an old car engine, but I wasn't sure. As soon as they sounded far away, she turned to me, her fake smile gone.

"Are you being followed?"

I stared at her. "I don't think so."

She sighed in relief. "Well get up. Follow me. Quickly."

And without waiting a second she started to walk away. I forced myself to stand up, although it felt stiff and painful. My eyes followed her as she rounded the corner. For some reason, it seemed dangerous to follow a stranger into a barn that's locked and doesn't appear to have windows I could smash through for a speedy escape. Then again, she was possibly my only chance for I followed behind her through a secret entrance at the side of the barn. She flicked on a light switch and locked the door behind us. I got a good look at the place, and it was honestly not what you'd expect. There were a couple futons to one side, an a hammock hanging from two posts, bean bag chairs scattered across the room. There was a small tv on a platform on the hayloft which was paused in the middle of a shooting game. A mini fridge was in the corner and the ground was covered in hay.

My new friend sat me down on a bean bag chair, and went to go grab a big black bag from the corner. When she got back she grabbed my wrist, feeling along it with two fingers. "Heart beat is slower than average, pupils are slightly dilated, and do you have a headache?"

I nodded.

"You're around sixteen, seventeen years old, right?" she asked. She reached into the black bag and pulled out a bottle of Advil and handed me two pills. I didn't swallow them right away; something about receiving pills from strangers scared me.

I shrugged. "I don't know."

She laughed, as if I was telling a joke. "No seriously."

"I really don't know." I sighed.

Her eyes narrowed at me as she reached into her deep sweatpants pockets. "Care to explain?"

I didn't know what to say, so I started at the beginning of everything I knew. "I woke up in a subway with absolutely no recollection of who I am. A taxi came and picked me up and I took it and it dumped me in the middle of nowhere. I trudged through the wood for about a day and a half before I ran into your barn and collapsed. I don't know my name, my age, who I am, or where I come from."

"You're a demigod though, I know that. You're heart rate is slower than the average human's and you just have that look, that aura."

Demigod. That word seemed to register somewhere in the back of my mind. "Demigod. Half-god, half human."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's right. You're a demigod. I'm Melody by the way."

She stuck out a hand which I tentatively shook. "Hi Melody. I'd tell you my name if I could."

Melody smiled, and I noticed she was kind of pretty, not in a stunning-attention-grabbing way, but in a laid back subtle way. She pulled off her wet hoodie and tossed it aside. "So you have any recollection of who your godly parent is?"

I shook my head. I shoved my hands down into my pockets and retrieved a ball point pen. Hmm, okay.

"Oh my gods, that's a brilliant idea. Empty your pockets. If you have amnesia then the stuff you find might help you remember." Melody urged me.

"Um, okay." I dug around through my pockets and found a one dollar bill, but nothing else. No ID, no real hint to where I come from. Just one dollar and a ball point pen. "Well it was a good idea," I told her.

Melody growled before an expression of confusion crossed her face. "Wait, you're about sixteen. Have you ever been to camp? I mean, you couldn't have survived on your won, not for so long."

"I don't know."

She stomped her foot in frustration. "Okay, this doesn't make sense it's so-"

A sickening _crack!_ Caught our attention. Melody immediately pulled a hair pin from her pocket and it elongated into a bow, a quiver of golden arrows at her back. She reached into her other pocket to bring out a set of darts.

I sent her a questioning glance. "They're tipped with imperial gold."

We heard another sound outside and I instinctively uncapped the pen, which was a sword in less than a second. The blade had a faint shine and felt perfectly balanced in my hand. _Anaklusmos._ I immediately translated that to Riptide.

Now it was Melody's turn to send me a questioning look. I shrugged. She sent me a glare; _you better explain later_ before running off to pull a shot gun out from behind the mini fridge and sling it over her shoulder.

And that's when the door broke down.

"Shit."

There was about twenty of them, all armed with rocks, one per hand. And they hand six arms each. They had an ogre-ish appearance. I nudged Melody. "I'll distract them on ground, you pick them off from the hayloft."

She nodded. "Three, two, go!"

And she was gone. The ogres started their volley of throwing and I charged the closest one, slashing it clean through the chest. I rolled to avoid the throw of another and took out the legs of the closest one. When defeated, they seemed to turn to melt into clay. I got up and feinted to the right before taking its head off with a swift movement that turned into a lunge through an ogres abdominal. I turn back around an assessed. Melody was picking of ogres, one every three seconds with arrows, and dropped to dodge the rock head towards her head. It went through her TV and seemed to smash her Xbox.

"My Xbox!" she cried. "And I just got Black Ops you _jerk._"

She reached into her pocket and through five darts at one, taking out two more ogres as I decapitated the one in front of me. And then there was only one left. I sword my sword and it pierced him between the eyes before he crumpled and melted.

I retrieved Riptide, and recapped it. "You're a pretty good shot."

Melody stared at me in disbelief. "You've been trained before, there's no way you haven't been trained."

"Okay," I replied. What else was I supposed to say?

Melody looked so lost in thought. "We have a problem... can I call you Mike? Okay, Mike, we have somewhere we need to go."

"Where?"

She growled. "Trust me, if I had another choice, I wouldn't be going there, but this seems like the only solution. Reyna's really worried. Worried enough to lower her pride."

"What's going on?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"I had was approached last night, in a dream, and I was supposed to be approached by a boy with sea green eyes and black hair. And I was dumb enough to think that if I ignored it enough, it wouldn't happen. They know I tried to separate."

I shook my head at her, no understanding. "What's going on?"

"We need to go to the place I promised myself I wouldn't return to. Camp Legion."

"What's Camp Legion?" I asked innocently.

She tossed me a back pack. "Grab some water from the fridge. Camp Legion is a place where demigods are trained in order to survive monster attacks. The children there are all half mortal, half Roman god. Those things we fought, those qualify as monsters."

"And why do I sense you hate it there?"

She scowled at me. "Because I do hate it there."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's a long story," she whispered before running off to the side of a room and pulling out a large cardboard box which had been hidden in a pile of hay. She pulled out a couple purple t-shirts and shoved them in her bag while pulling out a shield three feet in diameter. She threw it at me. "Catch."

I caught the shield in one hand and slung it over my back.

"So what's the story behind your sword?"

I pulled out the ball point pen and rolled it around in my palm. "I don't know. It was just, you know, instinct."

"We should get going," she shrugged her hoodie back on before whistling three sharp notes.

I heard a small clip-clop noise before a horse rushed through an old stable and whined. But the surprising part was that the horse had tan speckled wings to match the rest of its body as it clomped around unhappily.

"Shhh," Melody cooed, "I'm sorry Sunshine, but we need your help. We need your help. I know you haven't been out in a while, but I couldn't risk it."

Sunshine stepped back from Melody. _You only need me when you need help_, a voice seemed to say in my mind. Then it dawned on me; it was the horse, the Pegasus.

"Sunshine!" Melody sounded exasperated.

Sunshine turned to me, and widened... her eyes? _Oh lord, it's a pleasure to meet you._ She happily trotted over to me.

"Um, hi Sunshine." I pet her nose. "Could you help us out and give us a ride? Please?"

Sunshine bayed. _Oh anything for you lord. Please hop on, make yourself at home._

"Uh, thanks." I signalled for Melody to mount the horse, and she walked over with wide eyes.

"Who are you, the horse whisperer?" She exclaimed climbing onto Sunshine.

"I guess so," I replied climbing on behind her.

She stuck her tongue out at me like a child. "Okay Sunshine, Camp Legion."

Sunshine walked plainly out of the smashed barn doors, took a small run up, then took off into the clear night sky.

**See that button down there? You should press it, then write something. I'm always up for criticism or any kind of comment whatsoever. And also, if you want to beta, please contact me. Oh, and tell me if any part of the story makes no sense because I didn't proof read.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys!**

**I've just eaten like, a thousand chips, and I am feeling really hyper. So I wrote this chapter. Enjoy... hopefully.**

**Highlight of the day: I ran into a teacher in the hallway and he started to talk about my marks in science and my most recent project and how I might want to come explain some stuff to him. When he was done his spiel, I told him my name wasn't Stephanie and I wasn't in his class...**

_Percy_

_II_

_Winter 2010_

My eyes focused on the faint pink on the horizon. Melody took a deep, meditative breath as a serene expression settled over her face.

"This is one of my favourite parts of the day. You know, it's like the transition time," she said out of the blue.

"What?" I asked.

She smiled, but it was as if she was making fun of me. "On the east the sun is rising, but if you look across the sky, it gets darker, and on the other side the stars are just dwindling. I mean, it's like the entire sky is at all stages at once. It's the same at sundown. It reminds me that everything in this crazy world is still somehow connected."

I nodded. "I get it."

Melody laughed. "Okay, we're going to get there in about five to ten minutes, so you're going to listen. Let me do the talking, okay? These people are insane. I mean, they are very strict towards new comers, and I'm just going to have to be persuasive as I possibly can. Oh, don't try to talk, I'll talk for you. I wouldn't want you to say something that would get your head cut off."

I recoiled, unsure if I heard that right. "They'd cut my head off?"

She freaking _shrugged_. "Don't worry. You're really lucky you have me to distract them."

I have no idea what that's supposed to mean. "Okay. Uh, thanks."

Then Sunshine started to descend down and I vaguely recognized the area. It was... San Francisco. The golden Gate bridge was impossible to miss. Something told me I'd been here before. Then Sunshine hung a right and tucked us into a tiny stretch in the Bay Area.

"Why are we in San Francisco?" I asked, but got no response.

"Sunshine, don't fly in directly, they'll take assume it's an attack or something. It's safer to approach from ground level. That way they'll speak before they shoot."

_Um, wait shoot?_ They would just snipe us out of the sky?

Sunshine landed us in a puddle. _Sorry lord._

"No, it's alright Sunshine," I replied while Melody shot me a look. I rolled my eyes. "It's not my fault your horse talks to me."

Her eyes narrowed. "Sunshine _talks_ to you?"

I nodded.

Melody sighed. "Well, either you're totally delusional, or you have a super power."

"I think it's the second one," I smiled.

She turned and patted my head. "I'm sure it is. As long as you think that."

I rolled my eyes at her again, but she smiled to show it was just a joke. She led the way while I followed her with Sunshine trailing behind us lazily. Melody had this troubled look on her face.

"So Mike –" she started before I interjected.

"Mike isn't my real name. It just doesn't sound right."

She scowled. "Well when you can figure out you're real name, you just tell me."

"I'll try my best," I retorted sarcastically.

She turned to face me. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault, I just really hate camp."

"Why?" I asked.

She shook her head, as if she'd already said too much. "Just personal reasons. Nothing for you to worry about. Just focus on trying to remember things."

"Okay, I'll do that," I said before turning away. An awkward silence filled the air. I cleared my throat. "So, where did you get the Pegasus?"

She shrugged. "My dad. I think it was supposed to be a gift. He gave it to me after I got back from my first quest."

"Your dad?" I asked.

She nodded. "My...best friend named her Sunshine, even though I didn't particularly like the name, though it grew on me. I kept Sunshine with me during the time I wasn't at camp."

"She means that much to you?"

"Definitely," Melody smiled back at Sunshine, who was sniffing the air.

"Halt!"

Melody rolled her eyes and put her finger to her lips. _Shh._

A group of ten teenagers around my age (sixteen, seventeen?) immerged from behind a group of trees. They all wore purple t-shirts and armour, the kind that people in textbooks wore in Ancient Civilizations. Like, what the _Romans_ wore. Did I wake up on Halloween? Was this a gang?

Their eyes locked onto Melody. "What are you doing here?" one spat.

Melody's expression remained nonchalant as she picked at her finger nails. "Why shouldn't I be here?"

"You were sent away, if you recall," another retorted. His dark blonde hair was cut short, and his eyes were cruel.

Melody faked thoughtfulness, before responding innocently. "Really? Because as I remember it, I _left_ and said wasn't going to come back."

The guy in the front stepped forward with a cocky look on his face. "We don't take well to disloyal soldiers. I don't know why you're still alive."

Melody smiled. "Well, the obvious answer is because you didn't kill me, Toddler."

His face lit up in mortification. "It's Todd."

"Right, you _have _had a growth spurt," Melody sighed.

"Yeah, and you're still a self-serving _bitch_." He threw right back at her.

Melody gasped theatrically. "Profane language is not permitted-"

"Oh shove it," Todd cut her off, "You always had your fancy words but you dropped out as soon as things became difficult for you. You know what? Other people died too. You told them that they needed to put on their brave faces-"

"I lost a lot of siblings, and I got through it. I fought till the end. But I couldn't stay, not after her. You can't even imagine how hard that was." Melody's face looked dangerously dark, her glare murderous. She kept her eyes on Todd until he cowered, just the tiniest bit.

A girl stepped up to speak. "Who are you bringing to us, another one of your kind?"

"Um," Melody sent her a look, "What exactly is my kind?"

"Unfaithful," the girl sneered, "Apathetic. Stupid."

"Glad to see you have a high opinion of me," Melody muttered.

The girl smiled cruelly. "Oh, don't worry, we don't."

"But this guy," Melody gestured towards me, "well he's very important."

The girl raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

"Why yes Hazel, he is. Which is why I need to see Lupa. So if you'd just let me though..."

The teenagers raised their weapons to block her path. Wickedly sharp spears, javelins, and swords where inches from her face. "You are not getting through. How do we know you aren't bringing a monster to us? How are we to trust you?"

"I fought for you; I've risked my life for you more than you could count. Especially you Hazel, but you've seemed to have forgotten. Need I bring up the mirror? I've kept your secrets to myself no matter what, or is there something I should tell Reyna..."

Hazel's cheeks turned cherry red.

"So you are going to let us through, because there are consequences if you don't," Melody's voice was barley a whisper, sounding dangerous.

"Uh... I-I-IIII-"

"She's distracting you," a guys called out, "She's pulling you off-guard. We should cut off her head, right here right now. That was the law of our ancestors."

The guys drew his sword, and I stared at Melody as if to say, _Are they out of their minds_, but she just rolled her eyes at me. The other kids in armour reached to grab Melody's limbs. My heartbeat quickened.

"You're next," one spat at me as they forced Melody's head to bend down. I stared at her, but her eyes flashed a look at me. _Don't do anything._

One of the people pushed her long, dark, sun streaked hair off her neck, leaving it exposed. Melody didn't even fight them.

"Lost your fight as well? Maybe you should be put down. Into Hades."

Melody sighed in a resigned way. "Okay, go ahead. It's just that, I know something that will help you out."

They laughed. "You think so."

"Oh, I know so," she continued. "I mean, don't you want to get Jason back?"

Gasps. The sword fell from its owner's hand and clattered onto the ground. The people restraining Melody let go in shock, and she regained her composure, stretching out her back. Everything going on was completely unfathomable to me.

"How do you know about Jason?" Hazel asked accusingly.

Melody dusted off her sweatpants before looking to her dirty _Hello Kitty_ socks. How could I not have noticed her lack of shoes? Melody straightened out her hoodie. "Reyna IMed me about it. She knows how to lower her pride sometimes."

"Where the hell is Jason?" Hazel demanded.

Melody shrugged. "I don't know."

They lunged to grab her again but she jumped out of their way and held up her hand. "I don't know where he is, but this guy does."

She nudged me. Ten pairs of eyes glared. "What did you do with Jason? We'll _kill_ you."

Melody intervened, stepping between them, and me. "You see, my friend." She patted my arm, "woke up a couple days ago with absolutely no recollection of his previous life. He doesn't even know his name. At about the same time as he woke up, Reyna IMed me, asking if I knew where Jason was because he was missing. That's not just a coincidence. It's connected, though I'm not sure how, but if we can get this guys memory back... well, it's our only chance of getting Jason back."

I sent her a look, as if to say, _What are you doing? We never discussed this._

_Just go with it_, she sent back.

Eyes narrowed at Melody. "And what if you're wrong?"

"Then off with my head. That's how sure I am. You can kill me if I turn out to be wrong." She said firmly.

I'm seriously beginning to question her sanity, but she seemed to be so confident. I mean, how long has she known me? Less than twelve hours. And she's offering her life. Wow.

The purple shirted kids seemed to ponder this. "Okay, you get permission to enter and speak with Lupa, but the second you step out of line..."

"Deal."

Most of the kids started to walk forward while Hazel hung back with Melody and I. She nudged for us o walk, leading us behind the others like prisoners. _What kind of place is this?_ I asked myself, wondering how harsh and violent teenagers could get. They acted as if they knew Melody, but were still willing to cut her head off.

I stared at Melody, asking her for an answer with my eyes. She smiled, and winked, as if to say, _We won._

I relaxed my breathing. Hazel kicked the back of my legs. "Walk faster."

I complied, thinking Hazel was a little cold. Heartless. But then when I was pretending I wasn't looking, she slipped her hand down to Melody's and gave it a tiny squeeze. Melody squeezed it back one, then let go. Then for a fraction of a second, a hint of a smile graced Melody's lips, and then it was gone.

**Short chapter, I know. I'll write a longer one next time, I promise. But review! I'd seriously like to thanks all my reviewers: **

**(Anonymous)**

**HaileyP**

**Love HP**

**VampHime **

**IRememberNothingOf BeingHuman**

**I would also like to thank all the people who subscribed:**

**totaldramapokemon123456**

**Strawberry-SmoothieXD**

**nuthinbutagirl **

**IRememberNothingOfBeingHuman**

**And also thank you to FantasyFreakLover for favouriting! I'd liek to let you know, eachon of you made me smile!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey!**

**Sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've been such a busy bee recently. This chapter it long. I mean, really long. Don't expect any other chapters to be this long. Enjoy!**

**Highlight of the Day****: My brother read me this fun fact off of his twitter: Hamsters can have sex up to 75 times a day. Why again, would I ever need to know this?**

_III_

_Percy_

_Winter 2010_

When I came to this place, I was expecting a summer camp, like the kind you might see in a television commercial as a place where kids can have fun and be themselves in a safe environment.

That vision was crushed the second we entered. The scenery was dotted with buildings that looked as though they could've been pulled out of the... Ancient Rome part of my textbook? There was a fighting arena, a lake, horse stables, and several small buildings I assumed to be cabins tucked far down the valley. There was swarms of kids wearing matching purple t-shirts and armour that might have been pulled from the textbook as well. I looked at Melody.

"What is this place?"

Our escorts stopped to see if she what she'd say. Melody smiled a fake smile at them before looking back at me. "The Roman gods still exist, and they've moved with western civilization to end up here, in the United States. Sometimes the gods come down from Olympus and have children with mortals, which creates—"

"Demigods. Half gods, half humans." I finished for her.

She nodded. "Monsters are attracted to demigods, and about the time you turn thirteen, they start to find you, sniff you out like prey. They come to challenge you, kill you. That's where camp comes into the picture. This is the only safe place for demigods to go to. We train so we can survive monster attacks, so we can fulfill our destiny as heroes. All that sort of bull—"

A cough from Hazel stopped her.

Melody flashed an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I meant stuff."

"Okay, I get it. Heroes, fate, save the world. Gotcha." I was surprised at how easily I was taking this.

They seemed surprised too, except for Melody, who seemed unfazed by it. Then again, there was a lot of stuff that she seemed to take calmly, like the debate on whether or not she was going to be decapitated. I decided she was pretty cool. Then it occurred to me that her calm, cool demeanour was also the mask of a mad man.../woman.

We kept walking into camp until we came across a large cave. The kids in purple stopped walking. "Lupa, we have found a demigod. And trash." Todd called out as the others rolled their eyes.

A large she wolf stepped out from the cave and into our view. She was larger than the average wolf, and had dark grey fur. Her eyes raked over me, then Melody, who was standing there with an expression that I couldn't decipher.

The she wolf focused on me. Her eyes raised a question as her head tilted up. _Who are you to approach, a friend, or an enemy?_

She didn't speak a single word, but I could still hear her, clear as day.

"I believe I am a friend," I managed to reply under Lupa's scrutinizing eyes.

_I have never trained you,_ she circled me like a lion would circle its prey. _Yet you seem to have survived. Can't be less than fifteen years old,_ she sniffed me, _but your scent is very strong. Who are you?_

"I don't know. I woke up a few days ago, and it was as if all of my memories had been ripped from my mind. I don't even know my own name."

Lupa smirked. _Very well. All demigods are welcome, as long as they are strong enough to stand up to the challenges. I hope you are up for it._

I nodded, but her attention had already left me.

Lupa walked over to Melody, looking her up and down, sizing her up. _You're back._

Melody nodded.

Lupa narrowed her eyes. _You left, claiming never to come back. You were one of our best warriors. Why did you leave?_

"No reason," Melody answered stiffly, setting her shoulders into good posture.

Lupa stepped closer to Melody, almost threateningly. _Everyone has a reason for their actions, whether they know it or not. You, however, do know. Tell the truth. _

"I-I-" Melody hesitated, "You knew us. I didn't take her death well. I panicked and ran. I hated what happened to her because of this place, because of who she was."

I stared at her, trying to understand her, her situation, but it was all so unfathomable to me.

Lupa looked Melody up and down one more time before her threatening expression fell. She tilted her head at Melody. _If you hate this place so much, why are you here?_

"I found a demigod who needed help, and I saw my duty to help him before helping myself. I haven't forgotten the rules. I believe he is the key to finding Jason, and if I can help, I am obligated to do so."

Lupa resumed her "leader" face, pulling her ears back. _You have remembered well, and the search for Jason continues. I would like to discuss some issues with you in private._

Melody nodded once. "I'd like to say I'm sorry. For my rash behaviour, I promise to make it up to you and the other campers."

_Take him away from here,_ Lupa raised her head towards Hazel before glancing at me, _See that he receives some new clothes and that he knows where everything is. Make sure he is placed in a cabin._

"As you wish," Hazel gave a small bow before leading the group away, leaving Lupa and Melody who were going back into the cave.

I looked at the cave nervously. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Oh Melody? She'll be fine. Lupa probably just going to talk battle and about Jason, maybe talk to her about leaving. She's not going to get chewed out or anything." Hazel waved it off.

Todd growled. "I can't believe she gets off so easy."

Hazel shrugged. "I guess Lupa trusts her. She was one of the majors."

"The majors?" I asked.

Hazel nodded. "Yep. There were the majors, the people who go on quests, the important ones. They were like, the leaders. Each one had a speciality. You could tell who would make the group based on their parents. Melody was- no, still is – one of those important people."

Todd rolled his eyes. "I don't need to stand here and listen to how high and mighty miss traitor is. I'm out."

The rest of the group dispersed with him and Todd stomped away.

Hazel had to refrain from giggling. "Don't worry about him. He's been trying to get into the majors so hard. Todd has been trying to fill the spot Jason left behind, but he's too ill-tempered, illogical, and violent. You know, son of Mars."

Hazel seemed strangely calm compared to about, say, twenty minutes ago when she was all for cutting off Melody's head. I examined her for a second. Dirty blond hair, green eyes, about 5'6''. Her running shoes were caked with dirt. I focused on her face again. "So where do you fit in?"

"My mom is the goddess of agriculture," she smiled.

"Demeter?" I asked.

She shot me a look of confusion. "That's her Greek name. Here, we call her Ceres. Anyway, I'm the camp's nature expert. I'm great in outdoor settings, good with plants."

I digested that. "So do you fit in with the majors?"

"Yeah," she nodded towards a large cylindrical building that reminded me of the coliseum... sort of. "That's the arena. We fight in there."

"Uhuh," I said half heartedly. "So who is this Jason kid everyone is talking about?"

Hazel's eyes grew dark. "He's the son of Jupiter. He is sort of the leader here. I mean, Lupa is the director and everything, but everyone looked to Jason. He led us into battles, he was confident, he was smart. He was a real hero."

"Sounds like some really great guy," I replied honestly.

Hazel had this slightly dreamy look on her face. "Yeah, he is. But a few days ago, he went missing. Like, he went into his cabin to go to sleep, and the next morning, he was just gone without a trace. Everyone is really concerned. We have no idea where he went."

"I'm guessing he was a major."

Hazel laughed. "He was, like, the major. He was the only Big Three kid here. Big Three: Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto. He had wicked superpowers."

"Who are the other majors? Like, what do they do?"

Hazel looked thoughtful. "Dakota, son of Minerva. He hates his name because people sometimes confuse him for a girl. He specializes in battle tactics and plans. Reyna, daughter of Mercury. She's good at, well, stealing. Trickery. Deception. Sneaking around. She's the kind of person you ask to spy for you. Oh, and she has flying shoes. She's also really smart though. And then there was Melody, daughter of Apollo. She's good at anything projectile. Like, she can shoot better than anyone else at camp. She was like a sniper. We used her on assassinations and air strikes a lot. Or she would take out the target while we distracted. Always in one shot. And she has other powers, but she really tries not to use them. There's a couple others too."

I thought back to when we were in the barn when the ogre things attacked. Bow and arrows and a shot gun. Then the sun thing. Or I guess if you just think about her name; Melody. I guess it makes sense for Apollo to be her father.

"So how do I find out my parentage?" I asked.

She shrugged. "You're old. You should have already been claimed. You really can't remember?"

I shook my head in defeat. "I can't even remember my name."

She led me towards rows of cabins all shaped in a roman numeral X. They all had the same basic design, but all were decorated differently. One cabin, VI, had an owl over the door. "Athena?"

Hazel sent me a puzzled look. "That's her Greek name. Her roman name is Minerva. Why do you say everything in its Greek form?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, that's just the name that comes to mind when I see it. Like instinct."

"Hmmm." Hazel bit her lip as if she was deep in thought.

I glanced over at a cabin on my right with flowers blooming neatly in small window boxes. The all the flowers were made to colour coordinate with each other and not a single one looked out of place or wilted. A big XII was over the door. "Hey, is that your cabin?"

This pulled Hazel out of her reverie. "Yeah. I've been living there part-time since I was eleven years old."

"Eleven? You've been here for that long?"

"I was found by fauns at a young age. My mom thought it was best for me to get a jump start on training rather than, you know, get jumped by monsters. I mostly come for summers but I also visit for periods of a month or so at random times during the year."

"Do all kids come here at the same age?" I asked, intrigued.

Hazel shook her head. "Most arrive here when they are thirteen or so. That's when a demigods... well scent, starts to become strong to monsters. There are others though. Some demigods make it to a late age, like fifteen or sixteen, if their parents are less powerful, and some are minor enough to get through life without finding out heir demigods at all. But that's hardly ever the case. Then, of course, there are the ones who come here early. Some kids arrive here at the age of eight or nine. Jason got here when he was only three years old, but that's because he was brought by Juno. Then me, and Melody got here when she was six. She had some family issues."

That struck me as odd. "What kind of family issues?"

Hazel looked away. "Just some stuff. I probably shouldn't tell you, she doesn't like it when people talk about it." She looked away briefly before pointing to a cabin. "This is the Mercury cabin, until you're claimed, or at least until you find out whom your godly parent is. We're hoping that will only take a couple of days."

There was a sign carved into the door, one of those things you see on ambulances, a winged staff with two snakes going around it... a caduceus. "Am I going to get mugged with Mercury being to god of thieves and travellers and everything?"

"Keep a hold on your stuff. Not like you have much anyway. By the way, how do you know so much about the gods?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I really can't explain it," I replied apologetically.

"I guess we'll figure it out." She knocked on the door to the cabin, and it swung open to reveal a girl who might have been... fifteen? I'm not sure. She had long blonde hair braided over her shoulder and a troubled expression on her face.

Her eyes locked onto Hazel. "Any sign of him?"

"We should talk." Hazel said, stepping into the doorway, waving for me to come with her. "Melody's back again."

Reyna's eyes widened. "Why?"

Hazel pointed to me. "She found this halfblood outside her house. She's convinced it's the only way we're going to find Jason, or, it's at least connected. She's playing every card she has to get back in. She's done the apology-"

"That probably killed her," Reyna murmured.

"And she's being on her best behaviour. Along with, you know, having information and following her responsibility to help her fellow soldiers."

Reyna laughed. "Melody would pull that. How's Lupa taking it in?"

Hazel grinned. "Lupa is accepting it. Then again, Melody is being down right charming. Lupa didn't stand a chance; Melody is so convincing. People used to hang onto her, well their, every word."

Reyna flinched while a pained expression crossed Hazel's face. Reyna shook it off, looking at me. "So, who are you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

She looked like she was about to punch me in the face when Hazel cut in. "He has amnesia. He has no recollection of his past before three days, two days ago. But Melody is convinced. And honestly, it's the only real lead we have."

Reyma murmured inaudibly to herself. "Okay, well, I guess it's good to meet you." She reached out and shook my hand. "Let me go get you the uniform and I'll be right back."

I nodded to her, and when she was out of sight, I asked Hazel "Where are all the other campers?"

"Training. They'll be back in a bit, it's almost dinner. Reyna is allowed off because she's the cabin counsellor and she's leading Jason's search party."

"Here you go," Reyna handed me a purple t-shirt and a pair of black track pants. "Those will probably fit."

"Um, thanks," I said, twisting the clothes in my hands. "Where can I-"

"There's a washroom outside. Big doors, hard to miss, go into the one with the boy symbol on the front. It's at the middle of the cabins' "X" formation.

"Okay." I left without complaint because it was clear they wanted to have privacy. I could deal with that. I headed the washrooms, which were sparkling as if an OCD maid had a Mr. Clean usage binge a few minutes ago. White walls gleamed, spotless. I walked into one of the stalls, which were impeccably clean as well, and changed into the outfit. For some reason I couldn't explain, I felt as though I wasn't supposed to be there; I was out of place. I slipped the purple t-shirt over my head and headed out of the bathroom. I walked out and was about twenty feet from the door when Melody found me.

"Hey!" She said as she ran up and pushed me, smiling so I'd know it was a joke.

I stumbled for a second before regaining me composure. "Hey. What did Lupa have to talk to you about?"

She scrunched her nose and shook her head a tiny bit. "Nothing much. She just talked to me about Jason and his disappearance."

She said it so quickly I got the feeling she wasn't telling the whole truth, but I didn't push on it. "Okay, I thought she was going to chew you out or something."

"Nah," she smiled, taking in my attire. "You sold your soul and put on the uniform. So quickly too. That's okay; it happens to all of us, even the good ones."

I looked at her clothes to see she still donned her hoodie and sweatpants, before I looked at her feet. "Aren't your feet wet and cold and muddy since you're only wearing socks?"

"Oh yeah," she started to walk away, "but I have shoes in my cabin. Unless those kids threw my stuff away, in which case I'll _murder_ them." She pulled her hair back from her face, pointing at mine. "They're going to make you cut it off. All the guys get short hair cuts."

It hadn't occurred to me before, but all the guys I'd seen had the same short, neat haircut. "What about you?"

"Girls have to braid or ponytail." She stated.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "People here are obsessed about order, discipline. Like the way the Romans were when they were the leaders of civilization. Don't tell me you value your hair _that_ much that you'd get really upset if it got cut off."

"Of course not." I replied promptly.

"Good. I hate guys who are more obsessed with their looks than me. Also known as, the majority of Venus campers." She scoffed. "Did Hazel give you a tour?"

"Sort of." I answered honestly. "She kind was like, there's where we fight, these are cabins, get changed. Then I ran into you."

Melody laughed. "Sorry about that. Hazel can get really distracted. I mean really distracted. I'll show you what she didn't. Which is a lot of stuff."

I nodded. "So what's the deal with you and this place and all these people?" I asked conversationally.

"I know all these people that are here, except for the really new arrivals. And I had some friends, in fact, they were my closest friends. I grew up here at camp, and I went on quests and stuff. I learned to speak, read and write Latin fluently, I learned how to use all sorts of weapons and stuff."

"Sounds cool," I commented.

"But doesn't it?" She said wistfully. "Never going to school, never having to do homework, always training, using weapons. But I never had a childhood. I never came from school to be greeted by a loving mom. I never got to go to the mall and shop with friends. Never had sleepovers, or watched television, or saw news broadcasts. I never really saw the outside world. Hell, I thought everyone lived like the Romans and it was such a change, so mind blowing when I got out there for my first quest. I never had a real childhood, just broken pieces of one."

Melody laughed wryly. "I never got the life kids got. And I regret it so much. All we do is train, and train, and train, and then there are the kids who never come home from quests, the ones who lose their lives in battle. And it's not fair that some of us never got to really _live._"

And suddenly I understood her reluctance to be here. Which raised the big question: "Why did you come back?"

She shrugged. "You know, as much as I hate camp, I don't hate all the people. Jason was one of my closest friends at camp. I mean, he came to visit me after I left, but in a nice way. He didn't bring up how much everyone suddenly hated me, or ask me to come back, or criticize my decisions. He just asked how I was doing; we played some video games, and talked about the barn, which I had just finished, qand set up an electrical system. He talked to me about some issues, told me he'd visit if he ever could get the permission, then left when it got late. And it was the most welcome anyone had made me feel for months. So when he went missing, and I found you; well I owe it to him to try to help him get back. Besides, you belong somewhere. I bet someone is missing you just as much as these people are missing Jason."

"You're a very open talker," I commented.

She shrugged. "I guess ten years of keeping quiet finally got to me."

"And thanks for, trying to help me and everything. And saying they can cut off your head in case I'm not the way to get Jason back, well I don't know what to say." I blurted out before I could stop.

"Really, I know them enough. They won't cut my head off. I needed to give them something to prove that I believed you were the only way to get Jason back, and my life was a gamble they could accept. I needed something that would get us admission right away. If it really comes down to it, they won't kill me. Because if I play it well enough, they'll get emotional and reaccept me, and they can't kill their own soldier. But that will come. Right now, I'm playing nice."

"Wow, you're really... manipulative."

Melody pursed her lips. "Not really. You should see Reyna spin lies and deceive people; you'd be amazed. No, I just think things through, think of the best possible chances I have. I don't ever gamble; it's always a sure decision. I make sure I win." She pointed to a large field to the side. "Archery range. you can also throw spears and stuff there too. Don't walk through it unless you want your head taken off."

I shuddered. "No thanks."

She pointed towards a large area with sparkling white picnic tables. "That's the dining area."

"What if it rains?" I asked, noticing the lack of a roof.

"It never rains here, Jupiter makes it that way."

**

* * *

I picked at the remnants of my garden salad, occasionally nudging around the bare steak bone on my plate. Not that the food there didn't taste good, because it was phenomenal, but because I couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't belong there.**

"You okay?" one of the kids asked me.

I pushed the steak bone a little further. "Yeah."

"Nervous? Don't worry. Everyone gets nervous their first time in the arena but it's nothing big." The kids ate a spoonful corn, smiling.

I, instead, choked on some leafy greens. "What are you talking about?"

"Fights. Tonight. It's a Camp Legion tradition. They send all the new kids into the arena to see how they can fight. Wow, dude, are you okay?" The guy peered at me, concerned.

Shock was still conquering my mind. "Wait, I have to fight?"

The guy nodded. "Yeah, like in twenty minutes."

I immediately got out of my seat and started to walk over to the Apollo table. Other kids were starting to disperse so I didn't stick out like a sore thumb speed walking across the dining pavilion. I walked straight up to Melody, who was sitting along on one end of the table, far away from the rest of her cabin mates. They were shunning her.

I tapped her on the back. For some reason, I felt inhibited to take a seat next to her at the table. "Hey. So apparently I have to fight in like twenty minutes or so..."

Her eyes widened. "Did Hazel not explain this to you? God she wouldn't. Um, new campers always have to fight, it's a tradition. Did she at least get you armour?"

"Uh, no."

Melody scowled. "Did she do anything?"

"Not really." I answered.

"Fuck, we've got to go get you armour. You head to the fighting arena. She at least showed you where that was, right?"

I nodded.

Melody looked me up and down. "You would probably be a... eight? I'll meet you at the fighting ring in two minutes."

And then she was gone, sprinting away over a hill. Um, okay. I turned around and walked to the arena, and walked in where I saw a clump of demigods. I filed in behind them and stood to the side, unsure of what to do. Todd walked in past me, shooting me a menacing glare. "You're dead freak."

"What is your problem?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Red hot anger rushed to my head.

Todd sized me up, even though he was a solid six inches shorter than me. "Excuse me, punk?"

I stepped forward, towering over him. "You heard me. Why do you hate me? I don't even know you."

"First of all, you walked in here with that _bitch-_" he spat ferociously.

Anger roared in my ears. "Lay off Melody. She's a hell lot nicer than you. Who the fuck do you think you are?"

I raised my arms to push him when Melody yelled out. "Stop it!"

Todd rolled his eyes, and I reached to push him, but Melody stepped in my way.

She grabbed my hands and pushed them back down, with all her force, but I still knocked her off balance. "Count to ten, take deep, calm breaths. Do it." She turned around to Todd. "Walk away Todd."

Todd didn't walk away. "Who do you think you are, bringing this idiot here? You don't have that sort of authority! And then you sweet talk Lupa. What did you do, sing her a song so she'd do whatever the hell you wanted? What did you do?"

Melody didn't even blink. "Leave. _Now_."

"Fine, I'm out, _you whore._" He snarled.

Melody seemed totally unfazed by this; she just got this contemptuous look on her face. "Todd. Let me help you out. You see, you're not thinking properly right now, you're being too contentious. You need to go sit and think for a few seconds, breathe. And while you're doing that, remember I'm not the one with herpes. Go meditate with that."

Todd stormed off, but Melody kept the same nonchalant look on her face. She looked at me. "Don't let Todd get to you, he's an idiot. Put on this armour."

"He really hates you," I pointed out, trying to fit on the golden breastplate, unsuccessfully.

Melody smirked and fixed my shoulder straps. "Todd asked me out before, and I rejected him. He got so mad, and he's just been that way since. It's really personal."

I slipped my helmet on, running my hand along the green plume, when I noticed a detail that I hadn't picked up. "Um, why are you wearing armour?"

Melody was dressed in a similar golden set of armour, her helmet with a green plume sticking out of her helmet as well. Her hair was braided over a shoulder, and she was wearing the camp purple t-shirt underneath her breastplate. She was wearing close-fitting pants that tucked into a pair of leather boots that reached halfway up her calves. She had a hunting knife strapped to her right leg, a quiver of arrows slung over her back, and a 3' 6'' bow in one hand. She had a set of darts tucked into her knife strap. She kind of looked like a model for warfare accessories.

I stepped back in horror. "I'm not fighting you, am I?"

She shook her head solemnly. "Lupa thought it would be best if I fought in the arena to prove my return, also to regain the respect of my fellow campers. I'm going in before you. Walk up the stairs to the stands, find an empty seat. You'll want to scope out of the arena before you go in, see what you're dealing with."

That brought up a few questions I had forgotten. "What exactly am I doing?"

"You get thrown into the arena. You have a twenty seconds to run around, get your bearings before a couple of other campers are released. That why our plumes are green; so they can identify us. They come to fight us. You're allowed to maim them, or get them into a position where you could kill them, which is when they are considered defeated, and have to leave the arena. They just keep adding more and more people until you are defeated."

My brow furrowed. "Isn't that a little barbaric? I mean, they do this to all the new kids?"

She shrugged. "It's a way of finding out what their skills are, what they need to work on, and how talented they are. How cunning. It's not exactly the most tender, caring way, but this is Rome."

A horn blew from inside the arena. Melody straightened her shoulders. "I'm about to go in. The stairs are about twenty yards down that way, on the left. I'll see you when I'm done."

"Good luck," I told her before she shoved me off and walked into through an archway to the centre of the arena. I followed her directions and took the stairs up and found an empty section of seats, and looked down into the arena. The arena. No, it wasn't just an empty fighting circle, like I'd expected, but there were rows of , not blocks, but the same things that appeared in the center of the Coliseum. Weird.

A horn blew again, and Melody entered the arena. She had this look on her face, so determined, so fierce. Her game face. She ran deep into the arena hiding away from the door of the arena, and she put and arrow into her bow, and was ready to attack anyone who would enter. I leaned forward in my seat in anticipation. Hazel had said Melody was one of the best.

The second horn blew and two campers, a boy and a girl with blonde hair, entered the arena, and the doors shut behind them. They looked around for her before rushing in though the center. Melody repositioned herself, and they were about to run right past her hiding spot when she pulled shot two arrows, both in less than a second, hitting the two campers in the arms. They ran to the side of the arena and were let out through an opening that appeared out of nowhere, and then shut as soon as they were out. The arena door slid open again, and then six people entered. Melody stealthily crept back towards the entrance, staying hidden, bow raised. The six new campers looked around for any trace of her, but not seeming to find any. They took a few tentative steps forward, their heads constantly swivelling.

It was so quiet. Melody pulled an arrow from her quiver, and held it in position to fire. The audience held their breath. She started to run on delicate feet, before shooting the arrow, taking out one person. _Stupid,_ I thought. _She's given away her position._ The remaining five campers rushed towards where Melody had been, swords raised to attack, but Melody was a solid twenty yards away. She slung five arrows onto her bow and fired, taking out all the campers before one of their javelins could be properly thrown. It fell to the ground only five yards from the attackers as they walked to side. Melody retrieved it and prepared for the next set of kids.

A group of fifteen ran out, looking bloodthirsty. _These must be children of Ares_.

Melody climbed one of the larger fissures and waited for the children of Ares to come in her direction. She threw the javelin, taking out three kids at once; it skimmed one's shoulder, cut another's hip, then finally sank into one's calve. I watched in amazement as she slung six arrows at a time, taking out the rest of the campers in two volleys.

The rest of the time was pretty interesting. About twenty-five campers were released into the arena as Melody danced from fissure to fissure, shooting arrows at lightning speed. The thing was, she'd shot so much, but there was always more arrows in her quiver, like magic. Every time she defeated an opponent, more rushed in. She was running, ducking, leaping to avoid being hit by all sorts of projectiles. She reached into her leg strap and pulled a bunch of darts, aiming them all at other campers who were starting to climb up to get her. More people entered as I watched the numbers rise; thirty, forty. She jumped off of the fissure, landing with a roll before getting back up and making her way around as she reloaded her bow. She shot a volley of eight arrows, only one missing target. The missed one charged her with a spear as she blocked his attack with her knife and sliced down his arm. She kept running. More campers spewed into the arena as a mass of campers left their seat and headed down the stairs.

Melody was launching and firing arrows faster than my eyes could process while all the numbers started to gang up on her. A huge mass of campers entered the arena. Five kids threw spears. Melody tried to dodge one, and was able to deflect three with her knife, but then one sank into her left shoulder and she fell on impact. A large horn sounded to signal the end.

Melody immediately ripped the bottom part of her t-shirt off before wriggling the spear out of her shoulder. She stuffed the cotton shirt against the wound, but it instantly turned deep red. The other campers backed away from her as Lupa entered she nudged Melody with her muzzle and Melody stood, shoulders straight, arms back, despite her gushing wound.

Lupa paced around her, and although she didn't move her mouth, I heard her. _You lasted in this arena until you were placed in a 68 against one scenario. What would you make of this, pup?_

Melody stayed stiff straight up. "I beat my personal record."

_You have placed the second highest score in the past century. _Lupa continued. _What do you think of that?_

"I can always become better than I am." Melody replied.

Lupa seemed to nod. _Thank you Melody, daughter of Apollo. You may exit._

And then Melody walked all the way to the edge of the arena without even looking at her wound and out of the open arena door. All of the other campers were scowling.

Spectators murmured in their seats as Lupa lead the rest of the campers out of the arena. I quickly walked from my seat and back down the stairs looking for where they kept they were giving medical treatment, but the area was swarmed with campers and I could see anything in the sea of teenagers.

A teenage guy, maybe my age, two inches taller, ran into me. He looked at me with a smirk on his face. "Watch where you're going next time." he rolled his eyes. "And have fun getting slaughtered."

I ignored that. "Where are they treating the injuries?"

He smiled. "I'll show you. By the way, I'm Bobby."

I nodded, not knowing what else to do.

Bobby looked at me skeptically. "You know, normally when someone greets you, you tell them your name back."

"I'm sorry," I answered, "I don't remember what my name is."

He laughed like it was some sort of joke. "That's rich man. Come on, this way."

He led me through a string of campers past the entrance to the arena back into a less crowded area. Kids were lying down or sitting on white mats that were spread out on the floor. Girls dressed in green were handing out brownies to the injured kids who had gauze patched onto them. I scanned the area for a couple seconds before seeing Melody getting her arm patched up about thirty yards down. I walked over to her, Bobby staying close behind me.

Some girl with blonde hair who seemed to be about ten years old poured a liquid onto Melody's shoulder, which relaxed on impact. She looked up at us. "Hi."

The girl wrapped gauze onto her shoulder and taped it before walking away.

Bobby grinned. "Melody, looking good out there, despite your leave of absence."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks bud." She replied sarcastically.

He looked her up and down, checking her out. "Still looking fine, too. Honestly, you look like warfare Barbie right now. Hot."

Melody's cheeks lit up in a deep red blush. She smacked Bobby across the leg and he stepped back, wincing. She smiled. "Anything else to say?"

"No ma'am," he said in pain. "This guy wanted to see you." Then he limped away, shaking out his leg.

I looked at Melody in concern. "Is your shoulder really okay?"

She shrugged. "It'll be fine in about an hour."

"You were incredible. I mean, Hazel said you were good, but, she didn't say you were _that _good."

"Meh," Melody turned her head to crack her neck. "We should get you a shield."

She pulled herself up, a little off-balance. I caught her before she could fall back down. "Are you sure you should be walking? I mean, you should sit and rest a bit, right."

She laughed at this. "Come on, it's just a little blood loss. I'm absolutely _fine_."

I don't think I'd qualify _a little blood loss_ the same way she did, but she persisted in walking, so I followed behind her, prepared to catch her if she were to suddenly pass out. She reached a room filled with weapons and dragged me inside. I mean, it was loaded with daggers, knives, swords, axes, spears, javelins, clubs, and other stuff. Melody stopped to the pace where there were shields hanging from hooks on the wall. "Pick one."

I studied a few of them, picking a few up to test their weight. I stopped in front of a shield that seemed to stand out to me. First of all, it was bronze, not gold like the rest. And it was designed with pictures. There was a boat, some snake ladies –dracaenas- a picture of o boy, Cyclops, and a girl fighting a Hydra, and other pictures engraved into it. "This one."

Melody lifted it off the hook with her good hand and handed it to me. "Nice pick. We found that one at Alcatraz a couple of years ago." She rolled her shoulders. "Okay. Let's talk strategy in there. Honestly, I don't really know your fighting style well enough to tell you what to do, but I want you to remember that you're going to be outnumbered, so don't act too rashly. You are the defense, so remember caution."

"Thanks," I mumbled as I fixed the shield onto my arm.

She patted my arm. "Don't worry about it, just go out there and do the best you can. You want to make a really good impression on the other campers, so try to get a high score."

A horn sounded in the distance. "Showtime. Where so I go?"

"I'll show you," she grabbed my arm and lead me to the opening of the arena. The people operating to door looked bored as all hell, and there were campers in golden armour with red-plumed helmets giving me death looks. Melody rolled her eyes. "Good luck. See you on the other side."

The second horn blew, and the door opened. I uncapped my pen and stepped into the arena for the very first time.

I took a second to get my bearings, my senses on hyper alert. I ran around to hide from the soon coming attackers in an area similar to where Melody had been. The doors opened and two teenage guys walked out; one with brown hair and one with red hair. They looked around before walking straight up the center.

"Come out newbie!" the redhead yelled. They strolled right by where I was hiding, and once they were ten yards away, I stepped out form hiding started to follow them as quietly as possible. I crept up behind them, and sliced their arms with the tip of my sword. "Nice try guys."

They had this surprised look on their faces, as if they couldn't believe the new kid had the nerve to win that easily, but then they hung their heads and walked to the side.

The arena door opened, but this time, I was in plain sight of the six kids who charged me. I raised my shield to deflect a spear that was thrown at me, and then my senses seemed to really kick in. Everything happened so quickly, but at the same time I was moving in slow motion. I parried the first sword swing and sliced the guy across the cheek. I disarmed a girl while guarding my left side from an attack before I feigned a slash before lunging and maiming the next guy in front of me, twisting to point my sword at the girl's neck. She walked off to the side. The doors opened at and more kids streamed in.

What happened next was blurry. I was constantly hacking, and ducking, and slashing, and lunging, and blocking attacks with my shield. I could faintly here the opening and closing of the door in the background, and I was also slightly aware of the constant decrease in spectators. And before I really could tell, it was me versus ten. I parried against a guys thrust and counterattacked with a lunge.

The next four triple-teamed me, but I knocked I girl back with my shield and slashed at a guy with my other hand. He stepped back, and turned 90 degrees, but still managed to get skimmed by the blade. I continued with to momentum and flipped the blade, using to flat to hit a guy's helmet so hard he stumbled and fell over, unconscious. I disarmed the other guy and hit him with the butt of my sword, thrusting to stab some girl in the shoulder. I ducked to avoid a spear that was thrown at me by one of my last five attackers, slipped off my shield and threw it like a Frisbee to knock him over, which in domino effect caused him to knock over the girl behind him.

Two left. I charged one of the guys and her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She parried the attack and responded with a lunge, but I anticipated that and blocked it. I feinted to the right the quickly jabbed to left, piercing his hip.

Then it was me against the other guy. He had a large, pointed nose and cruel eyes. Todd.

"You're so dead." He growled as he charged me. I deflected his first blow, then his second and slashed at him, but he was expecting it. He moved out of the way and countered with a thrust which I parried and turned into a lunge. He moved out of the way just in time before attempting a lame jab, which is when I feigned a lunge before quickly jabbing his arm. Blood trickled from the wound, and the horn blew to signify the end. I dropped my arms, suddenly realizing I was tired.

Todd looked at me in disbelief. "You didn't."

Then her lunged at me so unexpectedly, catching me off guard, slashing right down on my shoulder joint, a blow that would most definitely but off the entire arm. I couldn't block it, so I waited for the pain. But it didn't come.

"What the hell?" Todd yelled in frustration.

I was so confused, but I look to my left to see my shoulder was still intact. In fact, there wasn't even a scratch. I stared at it confusedly while medics, Lupa, and Melody rushed in.

The medics attended to the unconscious people on the ground. Lupa walked over to Todd, growling. _You know the rules pup, but you disobeyed._

Todd hung his head in shame, getting chewed out by Lupa.

Melody had this look of awe on her face as she inspected my shoulder. "Not a single scratch on your arm. How... why..." she trailed off.

"I wish I could explain it to you, but I can't." I said apologetically.

She pulled a dart out and drove it straight into my collarbone, but it broke when she pressed harder. She looked at me in awe. "You're invincible. You swam in the river to the Underworld."

Lupa finished with Todd and made her way over to me. She looked me up and down as if I was some sort of specimen. _Well done hero. It is clear to me you have had previous training. One person took on the entire camp alone. How do you feel about that?_

"I don't know. I'm confused." I answered as honestly as I could.

Lupa made this noise, as if she was laughing at me. _All is well half-blood. Rest well tonight and you begin your training here tomorrow morning._

I nodded, and Lupa walked out of the arena. Melody slapped my shoulder. "Wow hero. You're just full of surprises. I'm glad I didn't let you die outside my barn."

I picked up the shield and strapped it to my arm, and it shrank into a wristwatch. "I'm hoping that's a compliment." I murmured but she just laughed like it was some joke, and I laughed with her.

At least I have one friend here.

**

* * *

That night I had a dream. I was sitting in a room made up of only big white walls, with a white floor and ceiling so that I couldn't even tell how large to room was. I ran in one direction, but never hit a wall. I turned to my right, and tried again, but had the same results. I couldn't help feeling I was trapped, and I started to panic, afraid I'd be lost in this white void forever.**

"At ease halfblood."

I quickly turned to see a woman dressed in white clothing, her dark hair braided down her shoulder. She had this authoritative look to her, but at the same time, looked a little mother like. I couldn't explain it. Her clothes made her look a bit like a floating head and arms. I recognized her in an instant though. "Hera."

She smiled, but it wasn't a warm smile. "Yes, I am glad you remember who I am. You aren't remembering a lot, but that was necessary."

I looked at her incredulously. "You took my memory?"

"I had to. There needed to be an exchange. You'll get your precious memories back when the time is right."

"Who am I? Where did I come from?" I asked.

She shook her head. "That's for you to figure out on your own. There is going to be some issues coming up soon, and it is your job to take leadership for it."

"Why don't you help me?" I asked her blandly.

She narrowed her eyes. "Ignorant demigod, I have already sent you help. Do you think Melody found you just as a coincidence?" She paused to compose herself. "Your time will come. Just wait."

"But-" I started, but Hera silenced me.

"I must go now; it is taking too much energy for me to be here. Just remember what I said." And she started to fade.

"Could you at least tell me my name?" I called out, but then she was gone. "Hera?"

No response. I ran to where she had been, but there was no trace that she had ever actually appeared. I couldn't help this feeling of desperation which took over me, and the room turned black and cold.

My eyes shot open, and I was back in the Mercury cabin at camp, being shaken awake by Reyna. "Get up new kid. Breakfast is soon and you have a big day."

My eyes widened a bit and I sat up in the bunk. I stretched out my neck and shoulders when I opened my palm to find a crinkled piece of paper in the middle. I unfolded it and flattened out the creases when I realized it was a note. A message written in plain black ink.

_Your name is Perseus (Percy) Jackson._

**Hope you liked it. Please review with any comments/questions/insults/concerns you may have.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey!**

**So I'm happy to be updating. I did a quick sketch of Melody during Math class a while ago, so I put it up on deviant art (if you wanna look at it) and I'm sorry it looks so out of proportion:**

**http:/ kittiesrock90210 . deviantart . com / art / Melody-Chapter-3-188063692 (you know, minus the spaces)**

**Highlight of the day: There was this huge snowfall yesterday and so this morning I got a phone call from my best friend at 6:00 am. I picked up the phone, and she screamed "SNOW DAY! NO SCHOOL! WOOOOOOO!" and then hung up before I could answer. Best. Wake up. Ever.**

_Jason_

_IV_

_January 2011_

_Swish!_

I picked up the next ball, aimed, the shot. The ball hit the rim, rolled around once, and then fell through the hoop. I ran a hand though my blonde hair as a cool breeze came through the valley, cooling over my sweaty forehead. _That's nice_, I thought as I closed my eyes and let myself absorb it. Technically, it was supposed to be the middle of winter, but thanks to the magic camp borders and weather control, it felt a lot more like a calm spring day. The kind where you could sit outside for hours sleeping, or reading.

"Jason!" Annabeth screamed at me from about sixty yards away. Her curly blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had this tired, frustrated look on her face. Then again, she had completely thrown herself into the _Argo II_ project and hardly ever took a break from it in order to find her boyfriend, the MIA Percy Jackson, as soon as possible. She'd been so concerned about him, since I told her the Roman camp wasn't as welcoming as the Greek.

"Hey Annabeth!" I waved at her, smiling. Even though she could come across as vicious and mean, she was actually a really nice person. You just had to see through how intense she always was.

She waved me to come over. "We're having a meeting about the boat. To discuss the blueprint for the boat."

I ran over to her. "What's the problem this time?"

"Bunking," she rolled her eyes. "Those idiots are concerned about bunking and are arguing about it while there are monsters rising, and Gaea planning to make a comeback and ugh!"

"We'll figure it out," I assured her, because she seemed so stressed. "We'll get Piper to charmspeak them into agreeable moods."

Annabeth sighed slightly. "That's a good idea. Thank you."

"I get that you're stressed. You really miss him, don't you?" I asked her.

She nodded. "It's difficult for me. He was one of my best friends, and he'd do anything for me, and I'd do the same for him. And then he just was part of some big prophecy and we thought he'd get a break, get a chance to stop worrying, but apparently, that would be too ideal."

"I understand," I answered as we got to the Big House and met up with the other senior counsellors. I took the empty seat around the ping pong table with snacks next to Piper while Annabeth sat down next to Clarisse.

"Hey," Piper whispered to me.

I couldn't help the little flutter that started in my stomach. It was just Piper. She had her dark hair cut choppy and her orange camp T-shirt was stained with paint from the arts shack, and she got a tiny bit of paint on her left cheek. She was so simple, yet I liked the way she didn't put on makeup, or wear expensive clothes, or try to stand out in any way. And somehow, she just did.

"Hey," I answered back.

She glanced at Annabeth from the corner of her eye. "Is Annabeth okay?"

"She's a little unhinged. Then again, her boyfriend is on the other side of the country and he doesn't remember her."

Piper flinched, and I realized she had thought we were together until I woke up and couldn't remember her. She looked sympathetically at Annabeth. "Yeah, she really misses him, despite how hard she tries not to show it. Apparently it took years for them to get together, but everyone knew it was going to happen."

"Annabeth said they'd been best friends." I commented.

Piper smiled. "She told me a story about how he'd snuck out of camp one year and went all the way to Mount Tam and held the sky for her. And then another time, they were surrounded by telekhines in Mount St. Helens and he's told her to leave and he'd handle things. And after Annabeth was out, there was an explosion and Percy went missing for two weeks. Everyone thought he was dead."

"What happened? People don't tend to survive explosions." I pointed out.

"Percy didn't tell anyone, but everyone knows he went to Calypso's island." She said, barely audible. "It really peeved Annabeth. Cause she though he was dead, and he was on some island with a girl who was in love with him."

Something occurred to me. "How do you even hear these sorts of things?"

"Annabeth told me some of the stuff and, well, I live in the Aphrodite cabin. It's like the camp TMZ in there. I always hear stuff even if I don't want to." She rolled her eyes.

Chiron rolled into the room magically compacted into his wheelchair since the ceiling was too low for him. "Thank you campers for assembling on such short notice, but I believe there is an unresolved issue."

Leo crossed his arms. "It wouldn't be unresolved if some people could just agree that we only need seven bunks on the boat. Seven halfbloods, seven bunks. The prophecy figured it out _for _us."

"I realize that," Nyssa glared at him, "it's just that there should be some extra."

"Why?"

"You know, in case some break."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Of course, the bunks are going to break so we need 5 extra? No. And anyway, if they did break, we could fix them."

Nyssa threw a glare. "Well if your opinion is so right, why don't you just build your own flying boat?"

"The flying boat was my general idea!" Leo yelled back.

"Yeah, well-"

They started to argue with each other while other campers started to argue as well, some of them not even talking about the boat. I heard stuff about chariots and capture the flag and underwear and-

"Shut up!" Annabeth screamed. "Just shut up! There will be eight bunks so there is one extra in case something happens. That way, you are both right. Okay? Happy? Great. Now let's finish building this boat so we can save the world!"

No one moved or said a thing. The silence lingered in the room as Annabeth sank back into her chair. I nodded. "That's a good idea Annabeth. And then we'll have an extra bunk in case something happens."

Annabeth flashed me a thankful look.

"I also agree with Annabeth," Piper added, which broke the silence. There was a murmur of agreement before Chiron asked "So is the matter resolved?"

Leo rolled his eyes, still slightly annoyed. "I guess."

Chiron nodded. "Council dismissed."

I scraped my chair back from the ping pong table and stood up, straightening out my shirt. I walked over to Leo. "You doing okay?"

He almost growls. "It's just it's hard for me to make all the blueprints and stuff when people are always thrashing my ideas."

"It's okay man," I assured him, "Things will work out. And this is going to be the best flying boat ever to exist, because you built it."

Leo smiled. "Thanks. I got to go finish the interior blueprints with Annabeth and Nyssa. I'll see you some time later. By the way, when is your sister coming back around...?"

I rolled my eyes. "Leo, she can't date. Ever. We've been through this."

Leo got a mischievous look on his face as he smirked. "I know."

He walked out of the room with the same scheming face. I shook my head while Piper joined me. "He's kind of weird."

"Yeah," I agreed.

Piper smiled. "Then again, he just wouldn't be Leo if he was any different."

I nodded. "The boat project is stressing people out. We only have five months to get ready."

"It seems like such a long time, but-" Piper cut off, dropping whatever she was talking about. "What was the Roman camp like?"

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly. "I've been getting some memories back, but not all of them, you know? I mean, I remember it was more disciplined there, more about order. Godly parents were more distant from their kids; there was a more warlike sense to the camp. I remember San Francisco, and the camp leader, Lupa, the mother wolf."

"Nothing else?"

I hesitated before answering. If there was anyone I could to talk to, it was Piper. She was the person I trusted most. "Some names keep coming up in my mind, but I'm not sure who they are or what they meant to me."

"Oh," Piper looked disappointed. "Your... friends."

I tried not to see how hurt her expression was. "Hey, I don't even know who those people are. For all I know, they tried to kill me."

Piper rolled her eyes, laughing. "Of course. You probably had people trying to kill you left and right."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why would you say that?"

"Oh, no reason," she smiled, playing with the end of her braid. "Why don't you go ahead and forget I said that?"

Suddenly I felt like dropping the conversation. Wait... I narrowed my eyes at her. "Piper McLean, are you trying to charmspeak me?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," she blushed. "So you want to come to archery with me?"

I shrugged, thinking over my schedule for the afternoon. I looked at Piper, and immediately disregarded all the stuff I was supposed to do. "Sure."

**So yeah, this was sort of just a short filler chapter and I kind of felt like I needed to do a Camp Half-Blood chapter. Just to let you know, the CHB chapters are probably going to be shorter than the other chapters at Camp Legion, at least right now when there isn't much going on and we need to get Percy caught up to the present. Review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've been in California and just got back today. I haven 't used a computer in over a week so I couldn't update and as if that hadn't been enough, I had been suffering from writers block. But I finally got this chapter done.**

**Highlight of the day: I decided I like airplane food... a little too much.**

_Percy_

_V_

_Winter 2010_

"Is it... Bacchus?" I asked.

Melody nodded. "Hades?"

"Pluto."

"Who's Juno?"

"Hera."

"And Apollo?"

I smirked. "Trick question. Apollo is the same as Greek and as Roman."

Melody raised an eyebrow, impressed. "What do you do if you don't know the Roman form of a god?"

"Don't say the Greek form," I replied confidently, "just say 'I don't know' or something of a similar nature."

Melody smiled, the sun reflecting off her deep brown eyes, which were glittering in the early morning sun. She faked a tear. "I've trained you so well!"

I ran a hand through my newly short hair. "Thanks."

"Okay," Melody got her serious face on again. "Lupa is going to challenge you. Show no fear. Show no weakness. Perfect posture the entire time. Never say something is too difficult, and the worst thing you can do is cry. Please don't cry."

"I won't cry," I assured her. "I'm a big boy."

She rolled her eyes before continuing. "Follow through on a task, no matter how difficult, and if she pulls shit and makes it more challenging or unfair, just go with it, no complaints. Got it?"

I nodded. "You kids here are really serious about this training stuff."

"You don't know half of it," she rolled her eyes. "Just remember everything I told you and you'll survive here. Be a leader, show initiative, but always show respect for the people who have higher authority than you."

"Who has higher authority than me?" I asked.

Melody shrugged. "Basically everyone. Although you'll probably have a higher standing by the end of the day. People are given their standing based on courage, fighting ability, cunning, and strength. All that sort of stuff. Once they realize your talent, you'll move up. This is Rome."

I didn't know how I felt about that; climbing ladders to get to the top of the authority. I looked at Melody who looked like she was shining under the sun. The sun streaks in her hair were like gold, and her tan looked even deeper, and when she smiled the sun, no joke, seemed to be as little bit brighter. "Where exactly do you fall on authority scale?"

"Below you," she answered nonchalantly.

"But-" I began to protest, but she cut me off.

"You should be thankful," she mumbled, "things work out best for you this way. I'm the distraction, so less attention is put on you. A lot of people want to see me crash and burn, and you'll be ignored a little more. Right now, that's good for you, because an amnesiac who knows so much about fighting and the gods is very suspicious."

An issue that had been bothering me since we had our first run in with the Roman gods surfaced. "Honestly, why do they hate you so much?"

"I left," she smiled sadly. "I'd heard so much about what my fate was to be, and what I had to do as a hero and instead of following their plans for me, I chose for myself. And no one could understand that. I didn't do anything to them, I didn't try to hurt them in any way; I fought the war, I finished what they wanted from me, and when it hurt too much for me to stay anymore, I walked away. But that was unacceptable. Only a few people actually understand my actions, that being Lupa and Jason. And now only fifty percent of them are here."

"Why does Lupa trust you so much?" I asked her. "It really pisses off Todd by the way." I added.

Melody got this troubled look on her face. "I don't understand Lupa all the time, but I trust her. She's lived so long and seen so much stuff; it's hard for me to disregard her. I'm not sure why she accepts me, or why she was okay with me leaving. When I was going, she just looked at me, as if saying 'It's all for the best'. I thought she wanted me gone, but yesterday she told me she always knew I would come back and that my destiny as a hero wasn't complete yet. Maybe she was trying to make me feel bad, I don't know."

"So if Lupa trusts you, why are you still at the bottom of the standings?"

Melody's shoulders straightened. "I have to earn back their respect. It's not going to be easy, but necessary if you're going to be a someone here at camp. Or else you get deduction by association."

Something about that bothered me. "How exactly are you going to get their respect back?"

Her eyes lost their sunny sparkle and took on a new look; anxious. "Showing humility. Doing something that's painful. Shit like that."

"Isn't that a little harsh?"

Melody shrugged then patted my head as if I were a five year-old, ruffling my hair. "I'm a big girl, I can handle it. Now you go run off to breakfast with your cabin, and someone will probably or at least might come and fetch you. If not, just go along with whatever Reyna is doing. Fit in with the cabin, but excel at what your activities if you can. You want to leave an impression on those around you."

I nodded and stood up, brushing off my jeans. "Okay, thanks."

"Good luck with whatever... Percy," she smiled. "I like that; Percy Jackson. That's got a nice ring to it."

I grinned kept walking back to my cabin to get ready for inspection before breakfast.

**PAGE BREAKS IN HALF USING MAGIC LINE**

_Discipline and strength are the foundation of an empire,_ Lupa circled me, head held high, _and an empire cannot have weakness if it is to survive. Weakness cannot exist._

I stood there with perfect posture, just as Melody had told me to do. My eyes stayed trained on Lupa, and I listened attentively to every word she said. The one thing Melody hadn't specified was the kind of challenge I'd be presented with. _It varies with every person_, Melody had told me. Well that was helpful.

Lupa looked me up and down suspiciously. _Normally, a demigod will be taken to the wolf house to represent the beginning of their journey as a hero,_ Lupa explained_, yet I have a feeling your journey has already started. Something about your presence here unnerves me halfblood, but Melody is certain that you need to be here. _Lupa's eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't decipher and her whiskers twitched. _However, I am not foolish, and Melody's premonitions, no matter how strange, have tendency to be true. The question is do you wish to be here?_

I nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Lupa smirked. _Very well. Hope you can stand up to the challenge._

I looked at her confusedly as she raised her head and howled. Huh. I thought wolves only did that on full moons or something. Lupa tilted her head to me, making eye contact before dashing off into the deeper woods. Um, okay. I stood there already pretty deep in the woods, as far as I knew, unsure of what to do. Was I supposed to find my way back to camp, or learn to survive in the woods by catching squirrels and roasting them overtop a fire I make by scraping two rocks together?

I was beginning to question everyone at this camp's sanity when I heard a feral growl that made my blood run cold. I glanced back and forth as I uncapped my Riptide and pressed the button on the stopwatch, watching it spiral out into a shield. Melody had told me it was my weapon after the arena, and I was able to keep it as long as I want. I dropped down into a fighter's stance when I heard something unexpected. A scream.

"Help!" someone screamed again. I glanced to my left and right, finally deciding the scream was coming from my right side, and I took off after it, leaping over a trickling creek and ducking under tree branches. Thin branches scratched at my arms, but it didn't hurt, just kind of tickled. Stopped for a moment to make sure I was going in the right direction, and sure enough, the same feminine voice screamed.

I readjusted my direction by about ten degrees and headed off in a direction that I estimated was south south west, judging by the position of the midday sun. I saw the clearing ahead, and I hid behind a shrub, surveying the situation.

There were hellhounds, eleven exactly, I quickly counted. There was a girl tied upside down, hanging from a tree high up, held there by her feet, screaming for help. Her long black hair was blowing with the wind, and with the way she was tied up, she kind of resembled a vampire bat (since they hang by their feet and everything).

_So I'm supposed to save the girl_, I figured out before something else caught my eye. I was a glittery flag that had_ Goal! _written on it in sparkly gold lettering. It took me a moment to realize what it meant; I was supposed to capture the flag. That was the challenge: I had to choose between retrieving the flag and saving the girl. I could win and get the flag, or lose and save a life. Instinctively, I would try to save the girl, but I wasn't sure if that was what I was supposed to do.

_Tick Tock._ I was wasting time. The worst thing I could do was stand there deliberating and not save the flag or the girl. I stood up, uncapped my pen, swirled out my shield, and jumped into the clearing. Dozens of hellhounds were snarling at me, gnashing their wickedly sharp teeth. One of the smaller ones charged me but I blocked myself from its teeth and stabbed it in the side. I did what I thought would be most respected by the Roman campers. I ran for the flag. I ran through hellhounds with my sword as if it was the easiest thing ever attempted. I split second glance to my left showed the hellhounds guarding the girl clawing at the tree, causing it to shake. If only I could get the flag and save her...

I slashed through the nearest hellhound—the last hellhound guarding the flag—and noticed a problem I had failed to observed. I mentally slapped myself. Twice. The lowest branch on the tree was thirty feet up, and the flag was about forty. I couldn't possibly try to jump the distance, and the hellhounds were shaking the tree with the upside down captive so hard that it was tipping.

_Tick tock._ I desperately scanned the surrounding area for anything that could help. What I came up with: trees, trees, dirt, a couple pebbles, a couple wild flowers, tufts of grass, and a small creek. I stared at the creek. Somewhere in the back of my mind, something was telling me the creek was important, but I couldn't remember exactly why. It's like when that perfect word or an old friend's name is on the tip of your tongue, and you know you know it, but you just can't seem to figure it out, make the connection.

A sudden tug at my gut almost caused me to double over. I wrapped my arms around my mid-section as the water from the creek rose from the river bed. My brow furrowed in confusion, but I wished the water was somehow able to knock the flag out of the tree for me. And then, the weird part was that the water swirled and rose higher and higher until it was at the height of the flag.

_No way,_ I thought, but the water went over the branch, bringing the flag with it and the huge wave came straight towards me. Acting on instinct, I jumped as high as I could, and the wave lowered so I landed on top, snatching the flag with one hand. I kept riding the wave straight towards the hellhounds which were growling ferociously. The wave hit them with such force, some disintegrated on the spot while I slashed through the rest with Riptide. When they were all destroyed I stopped the wave, and willed it back into the creek bed, and it obliged as I fell to the ground. I ran over to the girl, who was drenched and wide eyed. The tree branch had snapped from the wave, but she was still tied up and lying in a heap on the ground.

She coughed and spat out water. "You're a-you're a son of Neptune."

Neptune, god of the sea. "I guess so."

"But the pact," she mumbled. "Neptune isn't supposed to have any kids. Jupiter wasn't supposed to either but..." she trailed off, in shock.

I shrank my shield back into a wristwatch and leaned over with Riptide to cut her free. She removed the ropes and rubbed her raw wrists and looked up at me curiously. "You were supposed to capture the flag, you know. This was a test to see if you knew that a mission is sometimes more important than saving one life. But you did both. Who are you?"

I shrugged. "Percy Jackson, son of Neptune apparently. You?"

I offered her my hand and she took it getting up, straightening her soaked purple t-shirt. She looked up at me with big blue eyes with long black lashes. For the first time, I really looked at her. High cheekbones, no freckles, light tan. She attempted to fix her sopping black hair into some sort of order. "Gwendolyn Pheres, daughter of Venus. But call me Gwen."

Well, it made sense. "Nice to meet you."

She rolled her eyes. "Well whatever. Lupa will be interested to hear about your little water powers. Let's go."

She started to walk off to the left, so I followed behind her. She stepped through the brush and never stopped to think, so I hoped her was taking us the right way to back to camp.

"So Melody brought you here," she said, half-questioningly, without looking back.

I nodded, but remembered she wasn't looking and replied. "Yep."

She turned back this time, looking a bit concerned. "Did she seem, sad or in any way... off?"

"Uh, not really," I answered a little awkwardly.

Gwen got a troubled look on her face. "It's just, she's been gone a while, and I'm sure if she's thinking right. Some stuff happened last summer, and I just don't know if she's handling it well, you know?"

"What happened?"

Gwen's eyes widened. "You mean you don't know?"

I shook my head. "No one's told me anything about that. Melody's all evasive about it."

Gwen looked sad. "Last year there was the Titan War. The Titans who ruled before the gods were trying to take over again, but we destroyed their base and toppled the black throne, which destroyed their power. So anyway, the war had a really negative impact on Melody. I mean, her best friend died in battle and she couldn't deal with it well. Even then, she was acting strangely and kind of lost sometimes, but she finished fighting the war, destroying everything that got in her path. After it was done, and she didn't have a war to distract her anymore, she completely fell apart. Broke up with her boyfriend, torched almost all of her camp T-shirts, then ran away. Everyone got so mad at her, but honestly, it was just sad to see."

"Oh," was my genius response. It fit together now, why she hated camp. Why she didn't want to come back. Bad memories, tragedy; this place made her sad. "Do you hate her for it?"

Gwen shook her head. "Her best friend was my friend just like Melody was. I don't completely understand why she did it—she's one of the best fighters I've ever seen, along with having the most roots here. She was friends with everyone, and I mean _everyone._ Her whole life was here, how could she leave it?—but I couldn't wish death upon her. I want her to be okay, to get better."

I nodded. "So, what's going to happen to her now?"

She sighed. "People will come around eventually, and I'll help convince them to if I can. She has enough on her shoulders already."

And as soon as we stepped out of the woods and into the main part of the camp, I realized that was an understatement. The sun was shining and it looked like the ideal day, but then I caught sight of Melody.

_Showing humility. Doing something that's painful. Shit like that._ When Melody had said that earlier I'd thought... I don't know what I thought but it definitely wasn't this. I couldn't have imagined _this_. I couldn't imagine anything close to it. It's was disturbing. It hurt to look at. But I couldn't look away.

Melody was pushing a boulder uphill. I solid rock about five feet in diameter; but that's the least gruesome part. She was walking up a path of gravel—small pointed rocks stabbing into her bare feet, which were bloody. She had chains wrapped around her. On her shoulders, around her waist, around her arms, and they were rubbing her skin raw and bloody. The chains were attached to heavy metal weights, which dragged along ten feet behind her. I kid walked behind and occasionally pulled on the chains, causing her to stagger.

I looked over at Gwen in disbelief, but she just shook her head sadly. "She has to do it. She knows she has to. No complaints."

But watching her climb that hill made me feel like someone was stepping on my heart with freshly sharpened hockey skates. It was my fault she was here at camp, it was my fault she was climbing the gravel hill. A boy who looked about fourteen years old picked up a fist-sized rock and threw it at her at the same time the chains were pulled and she fell to her knees, the boulder rolling back to hit her bent form. I wanted to run over to help her up, but Gwen grabbed my arm, looking at me with stern eyes. "You can't. She has to do this alone."

So I watched her trudge onwards in agony, and with every step she took, every time she fell or staggered, I felt my heart sink. And when she finally reached to the top, the kid with the chains pulled her away to the left, just long enough for the boulder to roll back down to the bottom. I looked at Gwen desperately. "Please tell me she's done."

Gwen shook her head. "She has to restart."

I looked at her, appalled. "They can't do that to her!"

"They can do whatever they want." Gwen said calmly and slowly, as if it hurt to get those words out. I realized she didn't want to watch this just as much as I didn't; it hurt her too. So we stood there together on the grass only ten yards away as Melody made her way back up the hill. Up close, things looked worse. She was a bloody mess: the chains had cut through her flesh, and blood was flowing from the wounds. Her legs looked like she'd tried to use a cheese grater on them more than once, and her massacred feet... I didn't want to describe them. A trail of blood followed her up the hill. She stumbled more often, fell more frequently, but every time she got up again with that determined look on her face.

And I was amazed by her persistence, perseverance. Despite the fact she looked like she could fall and die, she kept on going. And the more I watched, the more I thought, that's what strength really is. Almost an hour had passed since she had had to restart, but she eventually rolled to boulder to the top of the hill. Five campers came over to relieve her of it and she fell to her knees. Lupa walked out from the shadow of a nearby tree to inspect her. All the campers gathered around, though I wasn't sure why, then Lupa raised her head to Melody.

_Strength was the foundation of Rome. Who can deny the strength which has been shown today?_ Lupa glanced around the campers for an objection, but none was called.

Lupa held her head high with respect. _Rise hero, and assume your position as a leader, the one you have always been. You have proven yourself once again._

Melody lifted her head up, but even that seemed painful. I was about to step to help her, but one again, Gwen held me back, shaking her head. Melody managed to get to her feet, slowly rising to stand in a somewhat straight manner. The boy beside Lupa reached out to hand Melody a sheathed knife.

Lupa's ears snapped back. _Melody Linch, you were previously the rank of praetor to the second Legion. Will you resume the same honour of duty?_

Melody's jaw looked as though it might drop, but she managed to keep a straight face as she said "Yes ma'am."

Lupa nodded, and then looked threateningly towards the other campers. _Does anyone wish to challenge this decision?_

Campers remained silent, not making a peep. Lupa resumed her stiff form. _All hail Melody Linch, praetor to the second Legion._

Campers took one knee, a symbol of respect. They stayed that way until Lupa growled, not in a menacing way, but instead, like an agreement before she turned towards me. _Perseus Jackson step forward._

I stepped up beside Melody, who looked like she was about to pass out, and faced Lupa.

She regarded me as if I was some sort of puzzle. _Those who watched you tell me you're powerful and cunning. _Her lip curled into a wolfish smirk._ I guess you will not become pup food. Demigods with your father tend to be...precarious sometimes. I haven't seen one of your kind in decades. Let's see how you do._

Lupa turned towards the crowd of campers. _All hail Perseus Jackson, the son of Neptune._

Campers knelt for me the same way they had when Melody had been proclaimed. They rose after ten seconds, standing in rows with perfect posture. Lupa growled, and the crowd dissembled, all going back to their camp activities. As soon as Lupa was far away, Melody crumpled to her knees. I rushed over to help her up.

"You just...you did...wow," was all I was able to say.

She tried for a smile, but it was more of a grimace. "I've got some of my respect back. Things are going to be easier now."

I held onto the least wounded part of her arms as I helped her get to her feet. She was mostly leaning on me, staining my purple shirt with blood, but I didn't care. She studied me for a second. "Son of Neptune. Hmmm. Can you help me get back to the Apollo cabin?"

"That's the least I could do." And with my help we made our way down the grassy side of the hill towards the cluster of cabins. Melody was leaning on me heavily, and we had to walk slowly because her feet were wrecked. Then something occurred to me. "Are we going to get in trouble for skipping activities?"

"Nah," Melody replied. "When people do stuff like challenges, they get the rest of the day off."

Just then a kid with brown hair and grey eyes came up and stepped in front of us, blocking the way. He looked directly at Melody. "We need to talk."

Melody looked away uncomfortably. "I can't deal with right now."

She attempted to step around him, but he got in her way as he looked at her desperately. "What did I do wrong? Was I not good to you? Did I hurt you?"

Melody shot him a sad smile. "You were great, but..."

"Where did I go wrong?" He looked at her sadly.

"It's so cliché, but it wasn't you, it was me," Melody's eyes lowered.

He looked into her eyes with an intense stare, his eyes looking like rain clouds. "Can we work it out somehow? I miss you. I want us to be_ us_ again."

Melody shook her head sadly. "No."

"But, I love you."

Melody as though he might as well have stabbed her. "I can't do that to you. You want things to be the same, but...I'm not the same anymore, and things can't be the same now. I've changed, and I guess what I've want has changed. You're great, go find a girl who could appreciate you."

He looked at her, defeated, and he barely managed to whisper. "But I love you. It's always been about you. Is it something to do with me?"

Melody sighed. "You always over think things. It has nothing to do with you. But I can't deal with this right now. Promise you'll give me space?"

He shook his head. "You're the girl who taught me to fight for anything. I'm not giving you up. Think about that."

He turned and walked off toward the fighting arena and I waited until he was a solid thirty feet away before shooting Melody a questioning look.

"Ex," she said, "I don't want to talk about it."

So we didn't, and we kept heading down the hill, and she acted like it never had happened. It took a while, but we finally reached the cabin. Melody got me to walk her to space beside the door where a large, plastic like mat was spread out on the floor. Sort of like those baby changing mat, only big enough to fit someone who was six feet tall. Melody reached over to a cabinet and pulled out a first aid kit, a small clear container, and a bucket. She looked at me apologetically. "Can you get me a bucket of water from the washroom?"

I ran to the bathroom and placed the bucket under the tap and turned on the cold water. Some kid walked in, stopped and gave me a respectful nod, and then kept walking towards the showers.

I placed the bucket of water near to Melody, but she was already busy removing shards of gravel from her feet and legs using a pair of tweezers and placing them into the small clear container. I watched as she removed every single piece, wincing every once in a while. She grabbed a couple white towels from a stack and dipped once in the water before using it to wipe the blood off her left foot and leg, also cleaning off her knee. She poured some sort of liquid—I assumed it was a disinfectant—on the wounds before wrapping her leg in gauze and bandage and repeating with her right foot.

"So," she said breaking the silence, "you've met Gwen."

I nodded. "She was in my little challenge in the woods. She said you guys were friends and stuff."

"Yeah, I guess. We weren't super close, but close, you know." Melody looked at my funny. Could you, um, turn around for a bit?"

"Why?" I asked plainly.

She blushed deeply. "I have to treat my shoulder and stomach wounds and um, take off my shirt."

"Oh," I responded stupidly, feeling my face heat up rapidly. "Um, yeah. Of course."

She looked down awkwardly. "Thanks."

I turned around and looked at the rest of the cabin, taking in every detail of the cabin, feeling dumb, but every sense was on hyper drive. I was very aware of every sound Melody was making, everything she was doing, and I was sort of tempted to turn around.

Don't blame me, I'm a teenage guy. And I couldn't deny she was pretty with her sun streaked hair and big, bright eyes, and big lips. And I couldn't pretend I hadn't noticed her lean, muscular figure. How when she was around, the sun would shine a little bit brighter, or how she'd been open and helpful to me, although she had no idea who I was. But for some reason, I felt ashamed for thinking these thoughts, but I couldn't decide why. Then again I've had this feeling for the past few days that I'm not supposed to be associating with these people, but I don't know why. The problem was, I liked being around Melody, despite my intuition.

"Uh, Percy?" she called out. "It's okay to turn around now."

I turned slowly, a blush still on my cheeks to see her upper body wrapped in a towel. She looked up sheepishly. "Can you do just one more thing for me?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Can you get me a new t-shirt? There's one on my bed...I think." She pointed to the first bunk on the left side of the cabin, the bottom bunk.

"Okay," I said, walking over to get it. Just then, a small flicker caught my eye. Something small and white was now hanging from the bottom side of the top bunk, like a post- it note. Whatever, it was probably a reminder someone had left for her. But as I got closer it fell off and onto the bottom bunk bed, so I picked it up. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Melody's face pale and she started to say something like "Don`t look at that," but I didn't really hear it. The piece of paper wasn't actually a note, but instead it was a photograph.

I looked at it quizzically, way beyond confused as my eyes widened in shock. It was a regular photograph, taken on what appeared to be a summer day. There were two girls and one guy in the picture, all smiling while sitting on a fallen tree log. In the centre was Melody, who was arm in arm with some blonde guy with shocking blue eyes and a scar on his upper lip. That was the normal part. The strange part was the other girl on the left of Melody. She was smiling the same sunny smile as Melody with the same bright eyes and French braided hair. Because the other girl in the picture—the girl sitting beside Melody was...she was...

Melody.

**Hope you enjoyed. Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi! I'm back with a new chapter which I've finished on a candy rush. I have this super long AN at the end about my guy problems...if you want to read and try to help me because I really need help.**

**Highlight of the day: I was playing Pokémon with the kid I babysit on the DS and I realized that Buneary—a cute, innocent little bunny—evolves into Loppuny—which kinda looks like a whore. Then I realized that the exact same thing happens to cute little five year old girl who grow up to be strippers. The makers of Pokémon are officially even MORE awesome.**

_Percy_

_VI_

_Winter 2010_

"Who, what...?" I trailed off. I closed my eyes for a second only to open them again to the same picture. I sent a confused stare over to Melody, who was trying her hardest to get to her feet. Photo still in hand, I immediately walked over to help her up, placing on arm around her, walking her over to the bunk and helping her sit down.

"Thanks," she mumbled, leaning back, looking up at me. "Well?"

I handed her the photo graph. She gasped, as if looking at it hurt, before her expression softened. She patted the space beside her and I sat there. "So..."

She looked at the photograph wistfully. "That was a good day. It was spring, and we'd just gotten back from a quest the day before. Everyone was treating us like heroes, and I was reunited with all of my friends. That's the day Reyna fell in a hole."

Not exactly the answer I was looking for. I pointed to the two Melodys. "You have a twin?"

Melody looked as though I had just shot her in the head. She opened her mouth, then closed it before taking a deep breath and trying again. "How about I tell you a story?" she attempted a smile. "There once was a girl named Tracy Linch who lived in Los Angeles. She was a performer-she sang and played the guitar—and was on her way to being a paid recording artist: her lifelong dream. One day, when she was nineteen, she met a guy. He was from Italy—Rome to be exact—and he was a musician as well. He was a really interesting guy, and she, well she didn't fall in love with him, but after drinking too much they...you know. He left soon after never heard from again, but my mom didn't expect to hear back.

"It wasn't several weeks later Tracy found out she was pregnant, so she but her career on hold and gave birth to twin daughters. I don't know if she was trying to be funny, or if it just was her strange infatuation with music, but she named her daughters Melody and Harmony, Melody being the first born. It was funny though, because the first time we ever sang twinkle, twinkle little star together, my mom swore that I took the melody while my sister automatically harmonized with me. And it was always like that."

I looked at Melody, who was staring at the photo, as if she was telling _it_ the story instead of me.

"So anyway," she continued after a few seconds of silence. "Tracy was a good mom, at least as good as she could be. After she started to work again, she got us home tutored, because she thought it was for the best, you know? When twins went to public schools they were normally separated into different classes, but me and Harmony hated to be separated, at all. My mom also worked a busy schedule, and wanted to be able to see us whenever she could; a lot of that occurred during the day, so I guess it worked out. Then one day, my sister and I had been playing in those little 'Play Place' things they have in McDonald's when a big snake thing tried to eat us. I was six then, and I think I killed it by shoving a plastic fork up its throat or something, and after I got Harmony, who had been in total shock, out of the tube thing, I hit my head on the base of the slide and blacked out. That's why the details are fuzzy, along with the fact I was six. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," I waved it off, interested to know what would happen next.

She cleared her throat before continuing. "When I woke up we were in the backseat of a car, my mom hysterically driving us out on the highway. And I remember every word said in that car.

"'What's going on?" I asked Harmony.

"She shrugged. 'I told mommy what happened, because I was scared, and then she picked you up and took us into the car. We stopped at home for a second and mommy filled up a bag before running back out. Maybe we're going on a vaca...vacation, but she doesn't look too okay.'

"'Mommy,' I called to the front. 'Where are we going?'"

Melody sighed. "She said 'I'm sending you to a camp that has been recommended for you by some nice guy who came by the studio.' But her voice was panicky and her breaths were short. She dropped us off with a bag of some of our stuff from home, and told us to walk to the big house in the middle of the park. She promised she'd see us sometime later and that we could tell her all about our fun a camp, although she looked a little on edge. And then she drove away, leaving a dust cloud behind. That was the place we were challenged by Lupa to see if we would make it as Demigods or become Wolf food. It wasn't until weeks later I found out my mother had driven off of a cliff, although police investigations said it was more like she had lost control; an accident. It wasn't until years later I realized my mom hadn't known about monsters, or known dad was a god. She had become freaked out and frightened when she heard out story."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I whispered, and Melody looked up to me gratefully.

Then her face went back to its normal impassive look. "Well, the rest of the story is the important part. We got to camp, and met the only other kid who was our age: Jason, son of Jupiter. The missing guy. That's him."

She pointed at the blonde guy in the photo. I raised an eyebrow. "Was he your boyfriend back then?"

Melody's face contorted and she made gagging noises. "That is very possibly the grossest thing I've ever heard. No, I don't think I could _ever_ go out with him. He's just...bleah. He was my second best friend. I've seen him do stuff and been around him so long I will never see him as more than a brother. How could you ask something like _that_."

I raised my hands in defense. "Honest question, didn't know your back history. Please continue the story."

Melody though for a second before snapping her head up. "Right. So my sister and I got used to being at camp, and fighting. We were the same, like clones. We both were equally kick ass at archery and it was like we were always on the same wave length. We told each other everything... well almost everything, and we were always together. Like our first quests, or just hanging out around camp. The only time we were apart was this one quest where we were split up into two different groups by accident, and I missed her so much when that happened. We shared everything too. We were co-head counsellors of the Apollo cabin from the time we were thirteen: a major honour for our age. We were like one person. And she was there for me when I got my first boyfriend, and actually wanted to the gushy crap about how I felt and my insecurities and stuff. She was the best sister ever."

"Sounds great," I commented.

Melody's face grew dark, and clouds covered the sky outside the window. "Yeah, well, things went wrong. Last year, there was a war against the Titans, and camp sent an attack against the Titan base. Jason, Reyna and Dakota, from the Athena cabin, were leading the ground assault—scaling the side of the mountain—while Harmony and I led air strikes. She led one group while I led the other; we flew in on a fleet of pegasi and shot arrows to take out monsters. We did this several times, but on the twelfth loop, a giant managed to impale Harmony with a spear, and... well, it was a good hit. She fell out of the sky... and well we couldn't save her. But I promised her we'd be together again, and she'd always be my best friend, and that everything was okay. She was crying, because she was scared to go alone, and I felt even worse because I wouldn't cry. My little sister was dying, and I couldn't cry about it. How twisted is that?"

She looked at me with pleading eyes, and I just shook my head. "It's okay that you couldn't cry. You probably were in shock. It's not your fault."

"But still," Melody lowered her eyes, "My sister was having a panic attack, balling her eyes out, and I just sat there, telling her everything was going to be okay. And then she looked up and my stoic face, and said the saddest thing ever, it broke my heart. She said 'Are you even going to miss me?' And I was only able to choke out a yes before she died, and I'm not even sure she heard it."

Melody looked like she was going to cry for a split second, but the she sighed deeply. "I finished the war. I was kind of thankful I had something to keep me busy, to keep my mind off of it. I was like that time we were separated on our quest; it's like I felt I would meet up with her when everything was over. But when we got back to camp, it was the simple things; I just realized she _wasn't there._ You don't realize how much someone is there until their gone. She wasn't there to take off the alarm clock in the morning, and normally we'd split up with responsibilities; I made sure all the guys were ready with tidy bunks and clothes while she took care of the girls. And normally I'd French braid her hair and then she'd French braid mine. Or we'd put in the same-style ponytail. And suddenly I didn't have someone I could talk to almost telepathically, and that's when it hit me that she was gone, and that's when I cried. I'd never felt so alone. After a couple more days resentment started up and I just hurt to be at camp. First I torched most of my camp t-shirts in a garbage can, which got a lot of people mad, and then I dumped my boyfriend, and then I decided I was getting the hell out of there. So I packed up and walked, taking Sunshine with me.

"A few days later I found the barn and I progressively fixed it up a bit. I made friends—mortal friends—and went to high school as a distraction, and I felt like an actual teenager for once in my life. And I finally had time to reflect; you know, the more I got to think about it, the more differences I noticed between me a Harmony: she was more into fashion, I was more into violence, she had more female friends like Gwen and Reyna while I like hanging out with the guys. She was less open to trying new things, but she was a way better cook. She was more pressured to fit in while I was more common to fit out.

"I think the hardest part was my birthday. You know, my sister and I had different birthdays—"

"What!" I cut in without thinking it through. "You guys were _twins._ Twins have the same birthday."

She shook her head, smiling. "My mom gave birth to me at 11:54 on November 11 and my sister was born at 12:09 on November 12. Anyway, my mortal friends threw me a sweet sixteen party against my will, and it was a beautiful party, like they bought me a dress and got a DJ and caterers... and it was such a nice gesture, but all I could think about was now my sister hadn't even lived to see her sixteenth birthday. That's unfair. She never ever had a beautiful birthday party with friends, and I was so angry at the gods for it."

Melody leaned back, closing her eyes for two seconds. "Whatever. I guess with it now though. I've kind of accepted what happened, even if I'm not happy about it. At least I still have the memories, and that's as far as the story goes. The end."

She leaned back all the way this time until she was lying on her back. She looked up and the bottom of the bed. I thought she was crazy for a second but then I saw the photos. I mean, there were dozens of photographs stuck to the bottom side of the top bunk. Pictures of Melody and Harmony and other assorted people, like Reyna and Gwen and Hazel and Booby and the guy with grey eyes who had talked to Melody earlier. My eyes focused on a photo of Jason and Melody and Harmony that appeared to be taken when they were seven or eight.

"He was really important to you, that Jason kid," I commented, noticing just how many pictures he was in.

"Second best friend. He was one of my first friends at camp. Plus he almost always backed me up when people were turning against me."

"Even before you left?" I asked.

Melody nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah, sometimes people really questioned me. I wasn't your common case camper. I was always stirring trouble or going against people's expectations. Jason supported me though, no matter how much shit we sometimes took for it. I'm not the kind of girl who follows rules well."

I focused in on a photo of Melody, at least I thought it was Melody, but it could've been Harmony, since they were all identical and stuff. But I was pretty sure it was Melody because her ex-boyfriend had his arms wrapped around her waist and was whispering in her ear. Melody was laughing while Jason had his arm around Reyna and Gwen was giving the camera the middle finger.

I looked at Melody confusedly. "Jason and Reyna were together?"

Melody shrugged. "Sort of. They were always on and off for strange periods of time. They weren't the most functional couple, but for some reason they always got back together. I didn't get it."

"Oh," was all I said as I processed everything that Melody had told me about her past, her sister, and suddenly she didn't seem as insane.

After a moment of silence, Melody suddenly sat up. "Well, that was an awful hallmark-mushy-emotional moment. Let's never do anything like that ever again. Agreed? Great."

She immediately tried to stand up and walk away, as if she was trying to pretend it had never happened, which caused me to smile. "Want help?"

"No," Melody ignored me as she attempted to walk away on her bandaged feet, but she almost fell, cursing in Latin. It was only five seconds before she came back and sat on the edge of the bed. "Whatever."

I suppressed a smile. "Are you okay?"

"I'm _fine,_" she emphasized. "Ask me again and I'll kick the shit out of you."

I laughed. "Good luck with that, with your injuries and everything. And you know, since I'm invincible..."

She glared viciously for only a second before rolling her eyes. "You aren't one-hundred percent invincible smart one. You still have one weak spot." Her eyes widened. "Where _is_ your weak spot?"

"Yeah, like I'd tell you right after you say you're going to kick the shit out of me," I snorted, "but I don't remember where it is anyway."

Her eyes widened. "You don't know where your freaking vulnerable spot is?"

I backed away from her for a second, startled at her sudden outburst. "Yeah, so?"

She punched me. "You're such an idiot!"

"Way to sugar-coat it," I mumbled.

"That was as nice as I could sound," She rolled her eyes, "But you are so stupid. How the fuck are you supposed to protect you self if you don't know where to protect?"

I thought about it, scowling because I realized she was right. I tried to think of a comeback, but I was having difficulty. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Well, you might want to start with finding that one point you know," she said with a know-it-all look on her face.

"And how exactly do I do that?"

She opened her mouth to talk, before shutting it again. "Um, you... uhhhhh-"

I jumped in. "See you don't know either!"

She glared at me. "Oh shut up. If it wasn't for me you would've gone on completely ignorant. Can you find it by like, poking yourself? That sounds _so_ wrong but..."

She awkwardly turned around while I felt my cheeks heat up. "I don't know, maybe?"

"Try it," she looked at me over her shoulders before lying back down on the bed. I awkwardly poked my arm, but, nothing. I tried to pretend this wasn't as weird as it was while Melody looked away, attempting—but not exactly succeeding—to suppress a smile.

I glared at her. "Oh shut up."

She laughed before placing her hands over her mouth, but her eyes still curved up so I could tell she was smiling. I rolled my eyes and continued until I only had my back left. Well, it's not like I checked everywhere; just the spots where I hoped Pre-amnesia me was smart enough to put them. My hand ran down my centre back down to my lower back to the spot opposite my navel. I nearly jump as it felt like a million volts of electricity were arching down my back. "I found it."

Melody turned back to look at me, curious. "Really? Where?"

I hesitated. Your one weak spot—not exactly the kind of thing you want to go around telling everybody. Then again, Melody was the only person I felt like I could confide with here. She'd risked her life for me, I trust her. "The small of my back."

I grabbed onto her hand and placed it in the one spot that could I could be killed by. Her eyes widened. "Don't tell anyone."

"I—" I didn't get to finish my sentence because at that very moment Grey-Eyed-ex-boyfriend ran into the room where his eyes landed on melody's hand in my hand on my back, and he glared at me.

Melody's hand snapped back from mine as she put it in her lap. "Dakota."

He looked back and forth between me and Melody, always glaring at me. "Melody. New Kid."

"It's Percy," I told him, but he didn't seem to care.

"Search group just got back. There's a meeting." Dakota said informatively, stiff perfect posture.

Melody raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

Dakota's eyes suddenly got really dark. "The search party for Jason just got back. They didn't find him... and they have really bad news. I mean _really_ bad."

A deathly silence filled the room. If this was a movie, this is when the dark ominous music would come in. Melody's eyes were wide and round, but then she recovered and let out a half hearted "Yay..."

I haven't really been here too long, but I'm guessing I should be concerned.

**YAY!**

**Okay, for you people, because I love you, I need guy help. See in October my Boyfriend (matt) for a year (I think) dumped me because he needed space, and I was okay with it, even though I was sad. Then he went out, he made out with a bunch of random girls, and I was like, still sad. But I'd also met this guy named Sean, and he's super nice. He's a transfer student as of this year and he's in three of my classes so we're always project partners and everything. And he's really nice, but he'll make fun of me when I make fun of him, and he's really cute with beautiful green eyes and dark blonde hair. So anyway, we became really close friends when we got trapped in an elevator together for five hours, and we really got to talk, and I decided I **_**really **_**liked him.**

**So about mid-December, we were going to the movies just as friend and we get into the theatre and my fucking EX is there with his friends and he sees me and I'm like MOTHER FUCKING SHIT. So then Matt asks if we want to sit with them, and I'm like **_**Hell NO**_** but Sean says yes before I can make up a quality excuse for why we can't and then it's really awkward and weird the entire time. Then the next day Matt comes up to me, is all like "So, you and Sean..."**

**And I do everything but audibly growl. Maybe I actually did. "We're friends."**

**Then Matt says the douchiest thing ever. "I don't want you to be with him."**

**So I'm like "FUCK YOU. You have no right to come and tell me that. You dumped me, went around with all these other girls without me complaining, but as soon as I start to hang out with another guy, you get pissed? Hell No."**

**And then I storm away dramatically. So then the last week of school Sean asked me out, and I was like dying, meanwhile Matt's still being all annoying and angry until one day he comes up to me and says "I want us to be together again."**

**Too late for that bud. "No."**

**And then he gets all close to me and says. "You still like me, you know it. Those feelings didn't just disappear. Do you really like him?"**

**And then I really wanted to punch him in the face. Because part of that was true. "Screw you."**

**Then on the last day of school before Christmas, Sean and I went to this clothing store after school and he was in the dressing room with me while I tried on clothes (don't worry, I made him face the wall opposite to the mirror. Then we were making out for a while in the dressing room stall thing for a while after I was done when we heard people. Then as bad as my luck is, Matt is out there with our old group of friends and we literally had to leave or else I'd miss my doctor's appointment, then they'd call my parents... so we waited for them to leave, but then they didn't, so walking out of the little change room with Sean was literally the most awkward moment of my life. **

**But anyways, my parents invited over Matt's family *(long time family friends) and then we were forced to awkwardly hang out. So we were hanging out in the basement, not talking as we played Call of Duty on my new, shiny PS3 and then he asks me if I miss him. And I don't know what to do. Because I suck at relationships, and I was perfectly content with playing video games and pretending nothing was wrong and that we weren't mad at each other and he hadn't broken my heart and that he wasn't trying to ruin my perfectly functional relationship, but he just **_**had **_**to.**

**So I'm there sitting there, not responding as I shoot him repeatedly in the game when he turns off the tv with the remote so I have to focus on him. And he's looking at me really sadly and it's so adorable that I want to melt and give him a hug when he says "I take it all back. I'm sorry; I can't stand watching you with him. If you're going to be with him, please don't act like it at school or go places I'll see you because I can't watch it."**

**And then I really want to hug him, because despite everything, he's still always been my best guy friend, and I kind of do want him back but my emotions are so messed up i don't know what to do.**

"**But why does it take you to see me with another guy for you to want to be with me?" I said, surprisingly calmly. "I mean, I have someone who hasn't hurt me, and always takes care of me, and... well he makes me happy."**

"**I wish he was a total douche bag," Matt muttered, but his voice was starting to crack.**

**And I feel like I'm about to cry. "I bet you do." I place my hand over his, and whisper "I'm sorry."**

**Then he grabs my hand softly, and it's like when we were together, except we aren't and things are weird, and then he says "Can I kiss you? Just once. I won't tell a soul, I promise. I just want..."**

**And then I kiss him, and I finally let myself believe just how much I have missed him and how much I still love him despite everything and then he kisses me back and I know I should feel ashamed but I can't. At least, not until I got back to school and sat down next to Sean in Science and he's smiling at me like I'm amazing when I feel like a bitch.**

**So I'm stuck between Sean and Matt, because I like them both soooooo much, and I don't know what to do. So readers... what exactly do I do?**


	7. Chapter 7

**I apologize.**

**I'm sorry I took so long to update  
I'm sorry this chapter is so short  
I'm sorry this chapter sucks balls.**

**Anyway, I'm here at Matt's with Sean and obviously Matt, typing this because my computer broke down. **

**Hope you enjoy.**

**Highlight of the Day: Matt told me he wanted to elope and get married, and find an apartment where we could have lots of crazy monkey sex and make beautiful children. I reminded him that I had a boyfriend. He didn't see how this was a problem. Sean was sitting **_**right**_** between us.**

_VII_

_Piper_

_February 2011_

"So like, promise not the fry off my arm hair this time?"

Jason sighed. "I'm sorry Leo, it was an accident. I didn't mean to shock you."

I suppressed a laugh as we crossed the green to the amphitheatre. Leo had been pestering Jason about the _electric shock incident_ for days.

Leo glared at me. "What are you smiling about, beauty queen?"

I shot daggers at him. "Leo, I told you not to call me that."

"Whoa guys, calm down," Jason stepped in between us before I could pummel Leo. "Don't try to kill each other or else you'll lose your dessert privilege."

I rolled my eyes. "Right Jason. What would I do without dessert for a week?"

He faked hurt. "I was just pointing out the consequences. No need to get sarcastic."

"Okay Mr. Sensitive," I laughed as we walked into the fighting arena before I stifled a scream. I think Leo did too, but for his sake, I didn't point it out. Anyway, it hardly seemed like a good time.

Sitting in the centre of the fighting arena was a massive dog. When I say massive, I mean, it was the size of a tank, facing the opposite direction. A hellhound, at least that's what they called it in monster fighting class, as to how it got here, inside the camp borders, I was unsure.

Leo, Jason and I exchanged looks and in only a matter of seconds we had a game plan, which I think is pretty cool considering we've only been fighting together for a little over a month. I unsheathed Katroptris and saw Jason bring out his sword and Leo retrieve a wrench from his tool belt from the corner of my eye. We started to advance on the hellhound when a voice yelled. "Stop!"

I glanced around uncertain of where the outburst had originated when a kid emerged from the shadows. The hellhound turned around abruptly and let out an excited "Woof!"

The kid, who was dressed form head to toe in black clothing—black shirt, black jeans, black jacket—picked up a shield and through it across the arena. "Go get it!"

The hellhound ran after the shield as it occurred to me that it was playing fetch. Huh.

The kid walked over to us. "Hey, I'm Nico."

He didn't stick out a hand to shake or anything. I cleared my throat. "Um... isn't that a hell hound?"

"Yeah, don't worry, she's trained." He assured us, looking around awkwardly. He looked thirteen, maybe fourteen years old.

Leo's eyes widened. "That's your pet dog?"

"Not mine," he smiled "Percy's. I'm taking care of Mrs. O'Leary while he's... absent." He looked down awkwardly for a second.

"I've been learning a lot of interesting things about Percy. How did he end up with a pet hellhound anyway?" Jason said as Mrs. O'Leary dropped the shield, which was dripping with dog drool, at Nico's feet. She sniffed us and gave Leo a big lick, which I don't think he appreciated all too much. Jason picked up the shield and threw it again.

Nico shrugged. "The last owner died and gave her to Percy. She really misses him."

Just then a satyr walked into the gym. I couldn't help but think of how much younger he looked to Coach Hedge. He had on a t-shirt that said "Protect the Wild!", but no pants so we could see his furry hindquarters.

"Nico, you were supposed to go for debriefing!" He called out, running out towards us.

"Sorry," Nico mumbled. "I forgot to. You told them everything right?"

The satyr nodded before focusing in on us. "Oh hey, I'm Grover Underwood."

He reached out and shook our hands. "It's very nice to meet you," I smiled.

"So you guys are the quest kids, right?" He asked earnestly.

"That's us," Leo told him.

Grover grinned. "Oh, do I miss quests; constantly in danger of being eaten, facing imminent death every couple of seconds, fighting for our lives every second, surprises at every turn... I miss it so much."

You'd have to be deaf_ and_ blind to have missed the sarcasm. But Grover smiled anyways, so his quests couldn't have possibly been _that_ bad.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "What quests did you go on?"

Grover scratched his head. "I went to the Underworld with Percy and Annabeth, then to save Artemis and Annabeth from Mount Orthys when they were kidnapped, then I went into the Labyrinth with Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson, his half brother."

Leo let a low whistle. "Wow that's impressive. Wow Percy on two of those, he really did make his way around. Everyone knows him."

"He's my best friend. Percy stuck me even when I was an outcast, or before I got my searchers license and everything. I hope we get him back soon." Grover pulled a Coke can from his pocket and tore of a big piece with his teeth and started to eat it. I don't care that all satyrs do that, I will never get used to watching them eat tin cans.

Just then a girl ran into the arena. She was wearing a green dress and had a green headband, although she was barefoot as she sprinted in our direction. She was petite, maybe 5' 1'', but she still managed to knock Grover over when she tackled him. "Oh Grover, you silly goat, I've missed you so much!"

She kissed him and Grover grinned from ear to ear. "Hey Juniper. I missed you too. You know how hard it is to get an espresso in the wild?"

Juniper laughed. "How hard it must have been for you. Did you meet any trees?"

Wait a second, meet any _trees?_ I shot a question glance at Jason who just mouthed _I'll explain later._

"None that could ever compare you Juniper. You're the best tree in the world," Grover kissed her cheek and she blushed. Grover turned his attention back to us. "Oh, how rude of me. This is my girlfriend, Juniper. She's a dryad."

Dryads, tree spirits. Makes sense. And now that I really got a good look at her, I could see the green tinge to her eyes, the slight point of her ears. I smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet you Juniper."

Off in the distance I heard the conch ring out to signal the start of dinner. Leo nodded his head. "So um, I sort of have to go get my cabin for dinner, with me being the senior counsellor and all..."

"Me too," I added "I hope to see you all around."

Jason walked out with me, waving a small goodbye to Grover, Nico and Juniper. "Well, that was hectic."

"And we didn't even have time to practice fighting. I was looking forward to destroying you in a duel." I sighed dramatically.

Jason raised an eyebrow. Gods he looked so sexy when he did that. "Really? You thought you would beat me."

"Not thought, knew," I replied smoothly.

"Whoa there," he laughed, "You're getting a little ahead of yourself. How exactly would you defeat me?"

I thought about it for a second. "I'd charm you out of your mind. I'd have you beating yourself to death."

He shot me a look, but I smiled to show it was a joke. He shook his head. "Piper McLean, you really are something."

And I'm praying to the gods that was a very good thing.

**Quickie! I'm sorry I haven't been updating, I've just had exams and culminating projects, and I've had mono (the slut on my soccer team drank from my water bottle...bitch)**

**Anyway, thank you to those who decided to help me out on me relationship problems. I ended up going with Sean, like most people told me to, but I also got Matt to get along and like, be friends with him too and they're like, bromance. Haha, they're actually with me right now while I'm writing this at Matt's house (my computer is broken),**

**And Matt's calling me a meanie and saying that I made him sound like a total douche in the last AN because, I kind of did. I was mad at him, so naturally I made him seem like a douche (which he had been at the time) but he's pretty great. We're like, besties (second besties. My bestie is a girl named Suzie) and he was always nice to me and put up with me in the worst year of my life when I was falling apart and helped me through it. And I was in the hospital when the Lost Hero came out and he took the time to go buy it and bring it for me and read it to me from start to finish. And then I was the hugest pain in the ass and always left him waiting on me and then I'd lead him on then drop him off... it's complicated. We're complicated. But anyways, I thought I'd let you know about how things went.**


	8. Chapter 8

**It has literally been a year.**

**Imagine the biggest apology ever: I am currently giving it to you.**

**Things have just been crazy with me, writing another story and I'm also working on a novel. I promise though, I will finish this story even though The Son of Neptune already came out. I'm doing this my way.**

**I'm going to work hard on updating as often as possible, and I assure you I'm not giving up on this story. Even if you have given up on me, I understand.**

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I'm ashamed at how I haven't been responding. I promise I will. You can kick me in the face with a hate review.**

_Percy_

_VIII_

_Winter, 2010_

"What's going on?"

I whispered the question as soon as Dakota's back is turned towards us. He was ahead of us by about five yards, walking with rigid precision.

Melody leaned in as she replied. "Something bad."

I rolled my eyes. "No duh. Do you know what's bad thing is going on?"

She managed a small smile. "Not a sweet fucking clue. This is bound to be interesting."

Dakota turned around, and we instantly stood up as with perfect posture as if to act like we were like that the entire time. _Us? Slouch? Nah._ He gave us both wary looks, but we managed to stay straight faced until he gave up and faced forward again. Melody was biting her lips to stop herself from laughing, although her entire body was shaking in silent laughter. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep quiet.

Our happy mood was gone the second we reached the meeting. A bunch of people who I assumed were the cabin leaders were gathered in a circle around Reyna who was standing on a platform, taller than everyone else. Everyone was murmuring quietly between their neighbours while others sent cautious glances seemingly nowhere, and a couple looked up at the sky as if it was about to fall on them. Like Chicken Little, or whatever.

Reyna's eyes turned in our direction as she let out a sigh. "That's the last of them, right?"

Dakota nodded. "Everyone should be accounted for."

"Hey, listen up!" Reyna yelled, waiting for the crowd to fall silent before she continued. "Search Party Number 2 has returned. They report that there have been no signs of Jason anywhere, but we will not give up on him. He's out there somewhere, and other groups will continue their search."

Campers twitter among themselves. "Jason? Where did he go?"

"Probably dead."

"Maybe he ran away like Melody did."

"He'll be back soon, right?"

"_Shut up!"_ Reyna silenced them again, clearly distraught by the lack of success in the search. "One of our other campers lost his life to Cyclopes in the north. Jeremiah Topax, son of Mercury, was an honourable soldier, and I'm proud to say that he was my brother. His burial will be tomorrow. Let this be a warning to anyone heading north—stay clear of empty warehouses."

"Oh, Jere," Melody mumbled as she closed her eyes tightly.

"You okay?" I asked tentatively.

She opened her eyes. "Yeah, it's just that I knew him and everything. And he's dead, so...you know."

I nodded my head and squeezed her shoulder as Reyna continued the meeting. "But there is more urgent news of a crisis. Monsters are reforming before their time; the laws of death do not seem to apply to them anymore. Instead of having their forms sent to the Underworld and back, they are instead recreating themselves moments after being destroyed. You can't kill them."

Outbreaks in the crowd; campers looked worried as they speak in hushed whispers.

I looked at Melody who had a concerned look in her eyes and I'm pretty sure we were thinking the same thing: how are demigods supposed to win fights against monsters that will just keep coming back at them?

"But there is an even bigger problem. There have been reports that Uranus is rising."

One person screamed. Everyone is panicking within small groups while Reyna has giving up on maintaining control.

I turned to Melody. "Uranus, the blue planet?"

Even Melody looked a little pale. And _nothing_ seems to faze her. "No you moron, Uranus, the first sky god. Terra, also known as Mother Earth, ruled the earth and Uranus ruled the sky; together they created the Titans. He reigned until his son, Saturn, cut him up into a million pieces and took over."

I processed it in my head. It didn't make much sense to me. "Wait, if this Uranus guy is married to Mother Earth, shouldn't he be a nice guy? I mean, Mother Earth is all about recycling and cute bunnies, right?"

Melody gave me this look, like _are you for real?_ I instantly felt stupid, while she shook her head. "Terra isn't exactly the nicest out there, despite your delusions. She's a cruel, wicked goddess. She was the one who convinced her son, Saturn, to slaughter Uranus and take the throne."

Oh. "Sounds complicated. I guess they're divorced now."

She gave me another one of those looks. "This is a really _bad_ situation. If he rises, who knows what he'll do? He was a powerful guy."

"Bad guy. Got it."

"_Attention counsellors; this meeting is not yet adjourned!"_ Reyna yelled at the top of her lungs and everyone hushed. "We must send some campers out on a quest to stop Uranus from rising. We estimate that we have a week or so before he rises completely, and we need to take action as soon as possible."

Some kid raised his hand up and yelled, "A quest!"

"Yes," Reyna agreed, "We are going to send a quest out to deal with the problem. We need to assemble a group who is willing to go out and—"

I'm pretty sure every counsellor raised their hand. Melody rolled her eyes. "How about we get a prophecy first?"

Melody pushed her way through the group and mounted the stage, dragging me along behind her. I mumbled a few "sorry"s to the people who were shooting us dirty looks after Melody elbowed them out of her path to the stage.

Melody didn't hesitate to yell at everyone. "Stop acting like a bunch of morons and shut up. Let's get some order in here. Silence? Good. First things first: where's Austin? We need a prophecy from him."

A girl on the far left cleared her throat. "Right here."

A small boy, no older than four years old, is brought forth and handed to Reyna. My jaw dropped. "A _four-year old_ delivers the prophecies?"

I don't know why I find this so ridiculous, since it's not like I've seen someone deliver a prophecy before. It's just, I expected something different. The more I thought about it though, my head started to hurt. I felt myself reaching for a memory, and it was right on my tongue, but I just couldn't remember.

Melody nodded her head once, sternly. She was so serious, completely opposite from her regular behaviour. "Yeah, he's a son of Apollo and has the gift of prophecy...sort of." She turned to face the group again. "Okay; someone needs to sing him to sleep."

Every person in the crowd gave her a funny look. Reyna coughed awkwardly. "Um, you're always the one who sings; you know, since you have the best voice and everything."

I sent Melody a questioning look but she didn't even look at me while she crossed her arms, facing Reyna. "I don't do that anymore."

"Sing? You don't sing anymore?" Reyna sounded incredulous. "That's ridiculous."

Melody nodded. "Not since _you-know-what_, so any volunteers?"

No one in the crowd raised their hand for a few moments, until a small redheaded girl piped up, "I will."

"Thank you, Jess," Melody smiled.

Jess ran up to the stage. She couldn't be more than thirteen years old, and she was skinny and short, with thick rimmed glasses perched on her nose. She cleared her throat before she sang slowly,

_Hush little camper  
Don't say a word  
Minerva's gonna give you a wise bird  
And if that wise old bird won't sing  
Pluto's gonna give you a diamond ring  
And if that diamond ring turns brass  
Venus's gonna buy you a looking glass  
And if that looking glass does break  
Neptune's gonna cause a big earthquake  
And if the earth just doesn't move  
Apollo's songs are gonna make you groove  
And if his music doesn't swing  
Jupiter will send out some lightning  
And if that lightning doesn't hit—_

She stopped there because Austin was lightly snoring, asleep. Reyna nodded her thanks to Jess, who jumped down off the stage and disappeared back into the crowd, who were all whispering amongst each other.

"What's going on?" I whispered to Melody.

"We need to wait for him to wake up, and then he'll tell us the prophecy. It only takes about five minutes or so," she replied in the same hushed tone.

I nodded. "So you used to sing a lot?"

She froze up for a few seconds before she answered. "Yeah. I was okay, I guess."

Reyna, who had been eavesdropping, leaned over Melody's shoulder to scowl at me. "Don't listen to her, she's modest. Melody's amazing at singing. This one time, she—"

"Let's not talk about this," Melody cut her off, but Melody had this strange, frantic look on her face.

Reyna backed off with her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. You can be a total ice box if you want, Mel. We're all onto you, Gwen, Hazel, Bobby and me? We're starting to see through the act."

Melody's expression remained ice cold. "What act?"

Reyna shook her head, almost sadly. "You don't need to give up who you were and pretend you weren't good at everything you were good at. Hiding your abilities doesn't make you strong, it makes you a coward. You can't run forever."

Melody didn't look at her. "Shut up."

Reyna sighed and walked off to talk to other people in the crowd. I don't know what to do or what their interaction was supposed to mean, but Melody's clearly upset, so I reach over and squeeze her shoulder once. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," she smiled at me though, a full, bright smile as if the sun was hitting me. "But come on, Austin is waking up."

Sure enough, Austin was rubbing his sleepy eyes when we got over to him. Melody knelt down so they would be at the same height. "Hey buddy."

He wrapped his small arms around her neck and hugged her. "Hi Mellie."

She hugged him back before they both pulled away. Melody held his hand after he stuck it out to her. "So did you see anything weird in your dream, or do you have something to tell me."

Austin hesitated before nodding his head.

"Really? Can you tell me?" Melody's tone remained warm and soothing like a mother, completely contrasting how she was with Reyna only moments earlier.

"Well," Austin looked at the ground, all cute and innocent like. "There's another one of those poem things."

"What poem was it this time?" Melody prompted calmly, poking him in the stomach.

Austin giggled and squirmed on the spot for a couple seconds before reciting:

_Travel to the place of the rising sun  
Darkness shall consume all but one  
Beware of night and beware of earth  
Prevent the Sky lord from rebirth  
Break promises to survive the attack  
Six shall depart, but five shall come back  
_

Dead silence. No one spoke for a few seconds as everyone tried to process what the prophecy means. Reyna and Melody both had the same calculating, concentrated look on their faces as they thought it through. Melody signalled for me to move closer to her as her and Reyna whispered in hushed tones. Reyna called Dakota over.

He didn't hesitate to shove me a bit when he reached us. "What's the new kid doing here?"

"My name's actually Percy—"

"He's here because I want him here," Melody cut me off. "I'm sure he has some great insight."

Dakota rolled his eyes. "Of course, why would I think differently?"

Melody glared. "I don't know, maybe it's because you think that you know everything just because your mommy—"

"_Travel to the land of the rising sun,_ what exactly does that mean?" Reyna jumped in before Melody and Dakota could start punching each other or something.

I cough once. "Um, the sun rises in the east, so people need to go east?"

Melody smiled. "See: insight."

Dakota looked like he wanted to strangle her. "What about, _Darkness shall consume all but one_?"

Reyna sighed. "Stop analyzing every line, we just need to understand the basics. Clearly there's a quest at hand, and six people need to go."

"And one doesn't come back. Lovely," Melody piped in. Everyone gave her a look. "Just stating the facts here."

"_Prevent the Sky Lord from rebirth;_ I guess that just confirms that Uranus is coming back," Dakota shook his head. "This sucks."

Melody glared at him. "Thanks for pointing out. And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one—"

"Are we really fighting about this now?" He snarls.

"Hmm, _beware of the night and beware of the earth,_ I wonder what that means," Reyna intervenes while giving them each a pointed look.

Melody rolled her eyes. "I thought we were sticking to the basics: there is a quest; what six people want to go?"

Reyna clapped to get the attention of the rest of the crowd who were all in small groups quietly whispering about the prophecy, as if something bad would happen if they spoke too loudly. Reyna cleared her throat. "A quest is being assembled. Which six are going?"

Dakota was the first one to raise his hand, followed by Gwen and Hazel. The blonde haired guy, Bobby I think his name was, also raised his hand.

_There were the majors, the people who go on quests, the important ones,_ I remembered Hazel saying before. So I guess this was it.

Todd was raising his arm way up in the air, but Reyna acted like she couldn't even see him. "Anyone else?"

Before I knew it, Melody was shoving my arm in the air. "He's down."

I didn't even have time to protest before Todd narrowed his eyes. "The new kid? No way."

Melody focused on Todd. "Yes way."

"Give me one solid reason," Todd spat at her.

"I can give you more than that," she smiled widely, but it wasn't warm. "One: he's one of the big three demigods, which is a major asset. Two: at arena, he showed that he possesses greater fighting skills than anyone else at camp. Three: Percy has water powers that are awesome. Case closed."

Reyna nodded. "Makes sense. You're up fish boy. Last addition?"

Melody's hand was raised, although she managed to look uninterested. "I'm up for it."

Todd's face was so red I thought he was going to explode. He practically did. "No way, _no way_, is she going. Not after everything."

Reyna looked back and forth between the two. "Well..."

"I think it's a good idea," Melody said, grinning.

Reyna shot her a look like, _please take this seriously._

Melody cleared her throat. "No, I actually think it's a good idea. I mean, all of us together make the dream team. Hazel is the nature expert, Dakota is the strategist and highly qualified in hand-to-hand combat, Gwen works a spear like magic, Bobby is a fast runner and a strong fighter, Percy dominates the water and fighting, and what's missing is a long-range projectiles specialist, a.k.a.: me. I mean, if we put you out there, you're just doubling up on specialties that are already covered."

"You are so full of shit," Todd sneered. "I'm one of the best fighters, and you've been out of practice for months. You aren't ready."

Melody narrowed her eyes at him. "What makes you think that you're a better choice than me?"

They were a few feet apart, circling each other up. For a second I thought they were about to rip each other's throats out, but then they stopped and just stared at each other.

Todd smiled. "I can throw a spear 30 yards."

"I can too, not to mention I can shoot four times as far," Melody countered.

"You're just a bitch. That's an automatic deduction."

Melody's eyes flared. "My voice can hit a note so high that it will make your brain explode. Want to hear it?"

Reyna was suddenly between them, pushing them apart. "Executive decision; Melody, you're up."

No one spoke for a few, tense seconds. I wasn't sure what to do as I glanced between all the faces; Reyna's, Bobby's, Dakota's, Hazel's.

Slowly, Gwen pushed her way up to the front. "Well, okay. Show's over. Go do whatever."

No one moved.

Todd was fuming. "She _left_, or have all of you forgotten that already?"

No one said a thing. Melody rolled her eyes. "Gwen's right. Everyone move out."

When no one moved again, she walked over to me and grabbed onto my arm before walking off the stage. Once we were a safe distance away, she muttered, "Well that was brutal, huh?"

"Mildly entertaining, although for a second I thought you were going to murder him," I mumbled back.

She smiled. "Todd? No, I wouldn't give him the satisfaction."

I couldn't help it, I was grinning back. "Can you actually hit a note that can explode people's brains?"

She smirked, "Just consider yourself lucky if you never find out."

"So we're going on a quest," I mused. "I'm kind of nervous."

"Don't be," she nudged my shoulder. "Everything's going to be fine. You can trust me because I know everything."

And for a second, I wanted to believe her: that everything was really going to be fine and I was going to get my memory back and that the quest would go flawlessly.

In the pit of my stomach though, I had this feeling that this wasn't my first quest ever. When I tried to think of when I could've gone on a quest before, my mind hit a blank wall. I was so frustrated, I wanted to yell.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, you idiots!" Dakota's distinctive voice cut through the air. "We have a meeting for all quest-goers!"

The meeting room was simply a rectangular table with seven chairs around it, nothing else; no snacks, no decorations on the walls. Reyna, Hazel, Bobby and Gwen were already seated when we arrived. Dakota took a seat between Bobby and Reyna while Melody and I took the two empty seats on the left side.

Hazel tapped her fingers against the table. "So let me get this straight: we take a car out east. We aren't even sure where we're going, but we're going east."

"Check," Gwen said.

"We make sure that Uranus doesn't come back to life to kill us all."

"Check."

"We get back to camp before the solstice, hopefully."

"Check."

Hazel sighed. "So that's it?"

Bobby, who looked like he was taking a nap at the end of the table, suddenly popped his head up. "You forgot the parts we're all except one of us are consumed by darkness, we break promises, and one of us dies. But otherwise, you're right on. Can we leave now? I'm tired."

_Well isn't that a pleasant thought_. My head hurt from the vagueness of this quest.

Gwen scowled at Bobby. "You're an ass, Bobby."

"You want to _touch_ my ass, Gwen."

Gwen blushed deep red. "I'm pretty sure it's the other way around."

"No flirting during meetings," Dakota said as if exhausted, his hands on his temples. "We've been over this a million times."

Gwen and Bobby blushed even more, and I had to wonder, _what's that all about?_

"Departure at oh-six hundred hours. Pack up and get a good rest tonight. And good luck." Reyna got out of her seat. She pulled Melody aside and whispered something in her ear.

Melody nodded slowly, while glancing at me twice. I was dying to know what they were saying. Melody reached up and hugged Reyna, who looked like she was about to cry.

"Hey, New kid."

I turned to face Dakota who was staring at me with intense, grey eyes. I nodded. "Yeah?"

"You better not mess up," he said before his eyes flickered over to Melody. "And don't overstep your boundaries on what you think is yours."

"Yeah sure," I replied, although I wasn't really paying much attention. Instead I was focused on the quest. Today, if I was correct, was December 14, and the solstice was a mere week away. One week to take down one of the worst deities in history.

And I was thinking; maybe, just maybe if I could do well on this quest, Hera would give me my memory back.

**Review?**


End file.
